Love and Loss
by Skullduggery91
Summary: When Gabriel goes missing, it's only natural that his charges go looking for him. Enter Courtney and Anna Elrick.
1. The Promise

Chapter 1: Promise

When God first told Gabriel that he would be receiving human charges, the youngest Archangel nearly balked at the idea. Never in a million years did he ever think that he would possibly be 'chilling' as he called it, in the back of their Jeep Wrangler, chewing on a Twizler and listening to K-Pop. The two cousins that he practically raised, were almost like sisters, he determined watching them with careful amber colored eyes. They had gone into the 'family business'. Their mothers were hunters, their fathers were hunters. Their bloodlines stretched as far back as the witch trials.

"What has you so quiet back there Gabe?" the eldest of the two, Courtney questioned. She was tall, with blonde hair that was almost always tied back and blue eyes that were staring at him through the rearview mirror. He just huffed flopping on his side to sprawl across the backseat.

"Oh nothing...just thinking." He replied casually watching as the two girls exchanged looks of concern. He knew he had been unusually quiet lately, especially after what Dean Winchester told him in that warehouse. It was true, and that hurt more than anything. But what could he have done? He couldn't choose between his brothers...and Lucifer...Lucifer his once kind big brother had literally beaten him within a inch of his life, after he refused to join him. After that...Michael changed as well. Sure he had saved Gabriel, and nursed him back to health, but there was a coldness about him. Anger that was pinned at his younger brother for some reason. He looked at Gabriel like everything was his fault. Hell, he even told him on the rare occasion it was. It wasn't long before every angel began to blame him for the war and Lucifer's fall. Heaven had become toxic and Gabriel could no longer handle the poisonous tension that seemed to cling to "paradise". He did the only thing he could think to do at the time; leave. He honestly thought he was doing his brothers a favor by vanishing off the face of the Earth.

"I'm fine." He lied, hiding behind a smile. Gabriel hoped for once, he would be able to fool them, but like every single time, they saw right through him.

"No you're not." Anna, the younger of the two sighed. She had short brown hair and vibrant green eyes that gave Gabriel a stern look with a frown pulling at her lips, "Whatever happened between you and the Winchesters seriously screwed you up."

"They didn't do anything but give me a taste of my own medicine." The Archangel assured.

"Well, maybe if you laid off some of the pranks..." she began only to receive a snorting laugh from the backseat.

"And miss out on the fun?" he smirked sitting up, "Puhlease."

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Courtney asked and Gabriel shook his head.

"Nope, nothing, nada. Look I've got to zap away now, but I'll tell you this much about the case you're going into; you're dealing with a woman in white." he said giving them his best trickster grin as he patted the seat watching with an amused glint in his eyes as they turned to stare at him with gaping, slightly mortified expressions. As he took off into the air, he heard Anna's voice bellow out, "REALLY?"

Gabriel soon found himself outside a cheap looking motel, the smirk vanishing as he took on a more serious expression. When he put his hand on the doorknob he felt someone pull him away and slam him against the brick building. Turning his head slightly he could see Castiel's angry blue eyes glaring at him.

"Hey there little bro."

"I thought I told you what would happen if you came near the Winchesters." came the deep growl, at this Gabriel's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, the smile dropping just a bit.

"And I thought you knew better than to touch an Archangel." he hissed using his grace to knock the younger angel off him. Turning around, he straightened his jacket, "Besides I'm not here to pick a fight. I came to ask a favor." at this he saw Castiel tense, his jaw clenching and his hands moving to fists.

"Do you think you're entitled to any favors right now Gabriel?" he questioned making the other drop his head in shame and guilt.

"No, I'm not. But Castiel, I need you to do this for me." the younger angel couldn't help but notice the desperate tone the Archangel's usually cheery, amused, voice took on.

'What would you require that I do?" he questioned wearily.

"Watch my girls." Gabriel whispered quietly, "I might have a plan to take down Lucifer...for good."

"Gabriel..."

"And here might be the off-chance that I don't make it out alive, I need to know that there is someone I can trust to watch out for them when I can't."

"Who are they?"

"Courtney and Anna Elrick. Please Castiel, just do this one thing for me." Gabriel begged and Castiel looked at his brother for the first time since his unexpected arrival. He looked...tired and worn out. There were bags under his eyes and his posture screamed exhaustion. He wondered faintly how the Archangel was still on his feet and it scared him to think that. Angels did not require sleep, they were sustained by their grace and heaven. To think that Gabriel looked as though he need a nap meant he was cut off from heaven and his grace was slowly waning. Slowly Castiel walked over and held his arm out waiting for Gabriel to grasp it. The other angel looked surprise before reaching out without hesitation gripping the other's forearm, aware of the silent pact they had formed.


	2. Destiny Will Wait

**Hey everyone, I forgot in the first title to tell everyone hello and if you are one of my steady readers, welcome back! I've been off the grid for a while, school's been kicking my butt all year so writing has been kind of out of the question. But now I'm back for a while. So please leave a review or private message me with any ideas, comments, or concerns! **

**Skully**

Chapter 2: Destiny Will Wait

Anna sat on the hood of their Wrangler, Courtney leaning next to her, their gaze on the open field before them. They were worried. Gabriel, they knew was slowly becoming worn down and the millions of years he spent on Earth were finally taking their toll. He was sleeping and both hunters knew that angels never needed to sleep. Nightmares, however, never let him rest for more than a few hours at most. Anna thought back to the nights she and Courtney had spent comforting and rocking him back to sleep while praying that someone would just have some mercy on him. She inwardly bristled at the next thought that crossed her mind, Gabriel knew what he had done was stupid and wrong, he didn't need some hunter with misplaced anger and emotional issues to go and tell him these things.

"What do you think the Winchesters told him?" She questioned and Courtney sighed, adverting her gaze from the landscape before them to stare at her cousin.

"I don't know...but it screwed him up." she crossed her arms moving her eyes to the ground.

"It was probably about his family...you know how Gabe gets about that."

"You're probably right, but he's not going to tell us anything because...I mean let's face it, he still sees us as those little six year olds he saved from demons," she sighed moving to look out at the landscape again, "I just wish..."

"We could show him that he can depend on us every once and a while?" Anna concluded bowing her head to check her cellphone, still no text or call. Ever since they had gotten Gabriel a cellphone, he was what someone would define as a text addict. An hour wouldn't go by before he sent them a text about where he was, his latest prank, or some cases to work on. Sighing Anna sent one more text to him before they heard the fluttering of wings. Turning to look over their shoulders the two hunters saw their angel standing there with a lollipop sticking out of the corner of his mouth, a grin on his face.

"Where have you been?" Anna asked as he trotted over to them.

"Off doing what I do." He answered making Courtney frown.

"That's awfully cryptic." she said with a raised brow, Gabriel shrugged.

"Well, I don't know what else to tell you girls."

"You promised you would stop with the Loki crap." Anna growled, "Unless you really needed to use that identity."

"I'm not doing that anymore." He replied with a shake of his head.

"And being the Trickster." the older hunter added.

"Former Trickster, thank you very much," Gabriel reminded, turning to look at them with grin still in place, "I was off being a good little Archangel, alright? I just had to take care of some things. There are you happy? No more pagan god, no more Trickster. I just had to relay some messages is all. "

"Really?" Anna asked.

"Really, really." he sighed hoping onto the hood of the car next to Anna, their shoulders touching, "So, how'd the case go?"

"Just a routine salt and burn."

"Oh good." he chuckled, "Well, we have some demons causing a ruckus in Minnesota. Hope you girls like the cold."

"Any word on the Winchesters?" the younger hunter asked and suddenly Gabriel shook his head.

"Kiddo, it's hard to tell what's truth and what's rumor these days. Heaven and Hell are abuzz with news, so I couldn't tell you." he lied, okay half lied, it was for their own good really, "But you are to stay away from the Winchesters got it? Now, road trip to Minnesota! I hear it's snowing!" he jumped off the car and ran to the passenger side, crawling into the back.

With a shrug Anna slid off and followed the Archangel's lead, leaving Courtney to sigh. She was unable to quell the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Taking a deep breath as she opened the door to her car, she could only pray they were ready for whatever was coming.


	3. Disappear

Chapter 3: Disappear

Courtney was busy scraping off the windshield of the jeep, cursing under her breath about the ice and snow that had stacked up around the car and on top of it. In her grumblings she didn't even notice Gabriel and Anna packing snow into their hands and rolling them into perfect circles. Both hunter and Archangel exchanged nods before letting the snowballs fly from their hands. When she felt the cold bite of snow on the back of her neck Courtney froze before slowly turning around to face them.

"Bitch." she squeaked reaching for some snow that was on the car throwing it at the two of them. Anna and Gabriel dodged the incoming snowballs laughing all the way.

A few minutes later they settled into the car, all three of them covered in snow. "So...demons in Minnesota?" Courtney questioned and Gabriel sighed, leaning back in his seat with a small grin on his face.

"Well, there have been mysterious disappearances in a neighborhood. At first it wasn't really anything, one or two people a month, now our mystery man or woman have upped the anty with grabbing five people a week." he explained.

"Do you think it could be doing it for a ritual?" Anna asked and the Archangel shrugged.

"Possibly, but your job its to find this demon, kick it's ass to the curb, and send it back to hell."

"Right what about you?" she asked reaching into the glove compartment for some holy water.

"Oh, I've just got some crap I've got to get done, by the way, all the victims seemed to be grabbed at the local bar." Gabriel answered, "Okay I will see you girls later." the girls absently waved him off.

"So...bar?" Anna questioned, glancing over at her cousin who nodded.

"Bar." and with that they drove to the local bar in silence. As they pulled into the parking lot Anna's eyes went wide when she noticed at black Chevy 1967 Impala parked outside. She looked over at Courtney and noticed that she was thinking the same thing.

"The Winchesters are here." she prompted making the other nod, "Think we should go in and say 'hello' I mean they could be working our case..."

"Gabe said not to go near them." Courtney reminded but then seemed to think about something, "But that doesn't mean we can't give them a little parting gift."

"Like?" and then she felt the jeep lurch forward. Anna gasped grabbing the nearest bar for dear life as Courtney slammed the jeep into the back of the Impala. Pulling away they found a parking spot, Courtney ignoring the looks she was receiving from her cousin as she got out to examine the front of their own car. The jeep had not damage done to it, Anna had playfully named it, "the tank". Nothing could hurt that thing. While walking to the bar Anna stopped by the Impala, whistling absently kicking the fender that had fallen off.

"Damn...our jeep can do some damage." she grinned turning to look back at her cousin who crossed her arms, a smirk coming across her face.

"Well...Gabe raised very spiteful tricksters in training. Now let's get our demon." exchanging small grins they walked into the bar, trying not to choke on the smoke that lingered in the air. Anna noticed the brothers sitting at one of the booths in the corner and nudged Courtney's ribs making the older hunter wince before her gaze followed Anna's.

"Great...think they're working the case?"

"Well...yeah..." the younger sighed, "So...let's go sit down at a booth and wait for our demon." they managed to sit on the other end of the booth and just waited for anything that would be suspicious. Courtney pulled a folder out of the bag and handed it to her cousin who groaned.

"Really...research?"

"Yeah, these are all the people that have gone missing in the last week or so. Gabe said that they all came here before vanishing into thin air. So...go ask the bartender if he's seen any of these people."

"Fine." Anna mumbled moving to slide out of her seat when Courtney reached over and grabbed her arm, "What now?"

"Do you have your badge?"

"Always."

Courtney watched her cousin go, and here eyes narrowed when she noticed one of the Winchesters, the tall one with the brown mop that he called hair. She thought that one might be Sam Winchester. He pulled her away and they began talking quietly. Courtney bowed her head when she noticed the flash of a knife pressing against the young man's stomach. Anna had a grin that Gabriel would be proud of plastered on her lips. Courtney saw the shorter hunter, Dean she guessed, notice the confrontation and she was instantly over near them. She gripped the handle of her own, a fake smile clearly on her face and the other hunter returned it.

"What can we do for you two ladies?" Dean questioned, the latter stayed silent, his brows pulling together in a frown. Anna smirked at him. "Careful tiger, keep doing that and you're face will stay like that." Sam said nothing, glancing at his brother who closed his eyes feeling a knife pressed against him.

"Why don't we take this out to the parking lot." Courtney advised. The short man shook his head.

"Lots of people around here."

"That's alright. We'll do it around back then." Anna supplied the smiles never falling from their faces as they got up and walked out of the bar.

Dean and Sam looked over at each other as they entered an empty back lot behind the bar. Snow had fallen on the ground, giving them both the advantage and disadvantage. Dean looked over at his brother and inclined his head a fraction, before turning to try and knock the knife free from the taller girl's hand. She easily sidestepped and slammed her foot down into Dean's ankle, making him gasp and strike out. She grabbed his arm and using the hand that held the knife landed a square punch to his jaw that had him stumbling.

Sam didn't seem to be faring much better with his opponent who's small stature gave her the ability to move in close and land a flurry of hits. When the short one blocked a particularly hard kick that would have any normal person falling on their butts, both hunters knew that the girls had been trained.

Finally Dean saw his opening when she moved to kick. He grabbed her leg and shoved it back making her fall to the ground.

"Court!" her companion cried before she joined her on the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" Dean demanded wiping the blood from his lip, the girls moved to answer when Dean and Sam were thrown away from their attackers by an invisible force. Shakily getting to their feet, they saw Gabriel standing in front of the girls. His ember eyes were full of rage even though he had a smile on his face. Castiel soon appeared his lips pulling into a frown as he looked at the scene before them.

"Well lookie here Castiel, our charges getting along so well." Gabriel smirked turning to his brother who said nothing, head low.

"Gabe..." the taller girl began. The Archangel whirled around pointing a shaking finger at them, his voice dropping so low, Dean almost couldn't hear it.

"I'll deal with you two later." and with a snap of his fingers they were gone, with their disappearance he turned to face the two hunters.

"Hello boys."

"Cas, why the hell is this jackass here." Dean questioned, "And what was with that stunt he just pulled?"

"It's so good to see we're still on good terms Dean-o." Gabriel said with a roll of his eyes.

"I apologize Dean, Gabriel just came to retrieve his charges..."

"And on that lovely note, I'll be going." and with the flutter of wings Gabriel was gone. The two hunters turned to the Angel of Thursday confusion on their faces, clearly wanting answers to their questions and Castiel sighed.

"Charges?" Sam asked as Dean quickly checked his little brother over for any injuries.

"Yes. Who you were fighting. He's what you would call protective of them. He threw you. Not me."

"So what? He's a big brother to two hunters?"

"In a way yes...he raised them, which is going against law but...he's always been going against heaven."

"Son of a bitch!"

"Dean." Castiel reprimanded but Dean shot a glare at him, running a hand through his hair, "A little heads up would have been nice Cas."

"They weren't supposed to come after you. Gabriel told me he sent them to hunt down a demon."

"He's dealing with the situation now, do you require medical attention?" Castiel questioned and Dean shook his head thumbing his split lip. Turning to look at Sam who quietly told him no and thank you. With a nod, Castiel vanished. Walking around to the front Dean's mouth hung open as his eyes landed on what was left of his 'baby'.

"Those bitches are dead!" he roared examining the damage, turning to look at Sam.

In their motel room, Courtney and Anna paced anxiously awaiting the arrival of Gabriel. They knew he was angry, there was no doubt about that. He used that same tone of voice he always did when they did something stupid, almost had gotten themselves killed, and did things they weren't supposed to do. When they heard the gentle flutter of wings they both turned to see their angry Archangel standing there. He ran a shaking hand through his hair in attempt to calm down before yelling at them.

"Gabe..." Anna began, "It's my fault." But he held up a hand before she could continue.

"You didn't do what I told you to do."

"We're sorry..." Courtney tried to say.

"You went after the Winchesters after how many times I told you to leave them alone." There was his lecture voice, "You went in without a plan against two experienced hunters who have an angel at their disposal. You acted like amateurs and nearly got yourselves killed or exposed." he hissed looking between the two, "I'm not going to be around forever, so you two need to start acting like the mature hunters you are! I just can't come in and fix every little problem."

"Then don't." Anna quietly stated making Gabriel turn to look at her with a raised brow.

"What?"

"Don't help _us_ Gabe, it's about time you let us help _you_." She murmured standing up from the bed she was sitting on, "You've done so much for us..and I feel like it's only right we help you out now. You're exhausted...you can't keep doing this...at least not by yourself. You have to stop acting like we're six...we're adults now, so please start treating us like one."

"And what did you mean by 'I'm not going to be around forever'?" Courtney added making Gabriel bow his head, the tables had turned. Now he was the one about to get his ear talked off. Taking a deep breath he looked up at them.

"I have an idea of how to take down Lucifer." He quietly began, "And there is the possibility that I could die."

"Your plan?" Anna questioned giving Gabriel a glare, "As in you're going in alone?"

" Oh no, you're not going. Lucifer is going to be there. There is no way in hell I'm letting you near that place. I know you want to help me and I know I should let you but this...this is too dangerous. You're still my charges and it's still my job to make sure you don't get your asses killed. This is basically a suicide mission and I'm not letting you come with me."

"Then don't do this, Gabriel...please..." she begged they had both walked over to him and only then did they notice how small he really was. When they were younger, it seemed like he was as tall as a mountain, they would have to strain their necks to look up at him. Now it seemed as though he could fit in the palm their hands.

"I have to. Everything I have ever done is for you. If I have a chance to stop the end of the world, to stop this war...then dammit, I'm gonna do it. I want to be someone you can finally be proud of." Gabriel explained before feeling tow pairs of arms wrap around him.

"We are proud of you." Courtney whispered, "More than you will ever know." They let him go slowly almost reluctantly and Gabriel's heart broke when he saw the tears lingering in their eyes. At that moment overwhelming tiredness consumed him. He felt exhausted, like the weight of the world had settled itself on his shoulders. Taking a deep breath he brought them back into his arms. He just needed everything to stop. He was about to hurt his family...his human family more than anyone would ever know. He was about to put them through the pain of loss again and the crack that had began to form down the center of his heart grew. He let them go a small grin on his face. He had to be strong for them.

"Alright, enough of the waterworks. Off to bed with the both of you. I'm going to go get something to drink." He left the room to let them get changed into their sleep-ware. He stood at the vending machine waiting for his soda to drop as the thought about what he was about to do in the next few hours. Gabriel had taken them to Minnesota for a reason. He knew when they realized he had gone, they would try to follow him. Slowly he walked back into the room and dropped down into int oa chair by the window. Anna was already asleep under the covers. He looked up with a smirk, knowing that the eldest of the two was still awake.

"Go to sleep Court." he called glancing over at her.

"You aren't going to be here when we wake up are you?" she questioned and Gabriel shrugged looking out the window.

"I couldn't tell you kiddo, I go where the job takes me."

A few hours later Gabriel sighed looking over at the two girls sleeping in the beds. He leaned back in the chair he was occupying. They were like his little sisters, they were the ones who saw the real him. He scrubbed a face with one hand. He was terrified. In just a few short hours he would be face to face with his brother, Lucifer, who had nearly killed him when he delivered the message of the banishment. Now he was going to stand up for humanity. Lucifer was going to kill him. He had no doubt about that. He just hoped that Castiel held up his promise. He hated leaving his girls unprotected. Slowly he rose and took out an envelope and left it on the nightstand between two girls. He bent over and pressed and quick gentle kiss to each of their hands like he did when they were little before vanishing with the soft flutter of wings, and white feathers falling to the floor.

_Good-bye_


	4. Sanctuary Is Lost

Chapter 4: Sanctuary is Lost

Anna's eyes skimmed over the letter before scrunching in anger. She turned to look at her cousin who looked equally furious. In all honesty they didn't know what to do at this point. All the letter said was that he loved them and not to try to find him.

"To hell with that." Anna hissed, rising from the bed and grabbing her duffle bag. Courtney watched as she began stuffing her clothes and weapon in there.

"Where are you going?" she asked and Anna could do nothing more than let out a frustrated shout.

"To find some damn answers, that's where! I want to know who he was with, where he went. Everything. If he's dead, then I'm going to bring him back just so I can give him a peace of my mind. Who the hell does he think he is?" She slung the bag over her shoulder and began to walk to the door when Courtney grabbed her arm, trying to fight the tears in her eyes as she said the three words she never thought would pass her lips.

"Annie, Gabriel's gone..." she murmured watching as the other shook her head, trying to rip her arm away from Courtney's tight grip.

"We have never given up on him before, why are we starting now?" she questioned with a slight snarl.

"Look, if Gabe's still around, he'll find us. He always does." Courtney tried to reason, "But we've got a demon still in this town."

"So?"

"We're hunters, Gabriel going M.I.A, doesn't change that. We made a promise to those people when we came in here that we were going to protect them from this thing. A hunter never leaves a hunt unfinished. The only way it ends is..."

"If the evil son of a bitch is dead, or we are. Yeah, yeah, I know." Anna huffed watching Courtney's hand slowly slide away from her arm, "But after we kill this thing, we go looking for Gabe."

"Annie..."

"It's the only way I'm sticking around."

"Fine."

It took them half the day to track down the demon that they were looking for. Courtney noticed that her cousin was just a ball of frustrated, angry, nerves. They were going to get caught with her acting like this. It was a miracle that they managed to trap the demon they were looking for at midnight. "Annie calm your ass down." she finally ordered in a hushed whisper, grabbing her cousin by the shoulder and shoving her into a chair. The younger glared at her before running a hand through her short hair, taking a deep breath.

"We're wasting time."

"It doesn't matter, calm down before I make you sit this out." Courtney sighed, "You're giving the demon ammo to work with."

"Fine, I'll sit out..."

"Fine, now let me just exorcise it and then we'll be on our way."

Walking back into the room where the demon they had trapped, who was wearing the form of a young woman who looked no older than Courtney, was pacing the devil's trap. The demon's eyes flashed black before a smile curled the corners of her lips. Suspicion made Courtney stop reaching for the book to look at the creature she had captured.

"What?"

"You'll see..." she smirked and suddenly the room began shaking. Anna rushed in, concern on her face as she grabbed one of the rifles resting against the wall. "Well that's not good." she muttered as the devil's trap cracked. The demon gave them an evil grin as she stepped out of the trap. Anna raised the rifle to shoot but a blinding light made her shield her eyes and some force slammed her into a wall. They heard the demon scream and then nothing. Deeming it safe to open her eyes, Anna looked up to see a man in a trench-coat standing over them.

"Who the hell are you?" she questioned reaching for the gun, but Courtney pulled it from her reach, giving her cousin a pointed stare as they slowly rose to their feet, brushing the dirt from their clothes.

"Castiel." the man answered, his voice a deep growl, "I am an Angel of the Lord."

"Wait a minute," Courtney said eyes narrowing, she had seen this angel before, "You're with the Winchesters..." Slowly almost hesitantly Castiel nodded.

"You have got to be kidding me." Anna sighed and Courtney gave her the rifle.

"Get the car ready, Castiel and I are going to have a little chat." she said and Anna rolled her eyes walking out of the motel room.

"What do you want." he questioned.

"Gabriel, if he's still alive." Courtney answered, "This was probably his last prank huh? Giving us the angel that watches over those two assholes." she saw Castiel's jaw clench at the statement.

"I can tell you the location his grace was last used at." the angel responded, choosing to ignore rather than call her out on what she had just said, "But that's all...then you can talk to the Winchesters. They were the last to see him."

"And I guess you can't take us to them?"

"I won't."

"So we have to find them."

"Yes." Castiel watched her nod with cool blue eyes, "But I would advise you to let this go..."

"If he's still alive, " Courtney whispered, "then we will never give up looking for him."

"And if he's dead? Then what will you do." he asked taking a step towards her, watching her turn to face him, her expression filled with determination. "Then we're going to hunt down the bastard that killed him and tear it a new one before sending its ass back down to hell!"

"That 'bastard' that might have killed him was Lucifer, one of the strongest beings on the planet. You cannot think he will not go down without a fight. He is like nothing you'll ever face...do you think Gabriel would want you to do this?" Castiel then found the girl jabbing her finger into his chest, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper.

"I know you're his brother and you've known him longer than I have, but honestly, you don't know the first damn thing about him, so don't you dare make assumptions about what he wants. And if I ever see Dean Winchester again, he'll learn to keep that big mouth of his shut." And with that the girl turned and walked out of the room, leaving the angel standing there, confusion filtering on his face as he waited for a moment before zapping himself outside with the girls.

Anna was sitting on the hood of the jeep, glancing at her phone looking up as Courtney made her way over to her. "Well?"

"Cas says he would tell us where Gabriel was last seen, and he told us he had a run in with Lucifer and the Winchesters." Courtney explained quietly.

"So, we have to see them again?"

"Yeah...but this time, things are gonna go a lot differently." she promised and then Castiel appeared beside her as she threw her bag into the back.

"Elysian Fields Hotel." he said and Courtney raised a brow.

"What?"

"Where Gabriel was last spotted, Elysian Fields Hotel." he repeated and Courtney nodded.

"Oh, right..." and then she moved to get into the car, turning the key and feeling the car rev to life before turning to Castiel who was standing outside of her window.

"You might have some trouble getting in."

"Doesn't matter, we have our ways." Anna explained as they pulled out of their current motel to head to another, leaving the angel in the parking lot. Courtney was busy staring out at the road, not really paying attention until Anna let out a laugh, making the older hunter to to her brows frowned in confusion.

"What?"

"Oh, just the fact that Gabe planned this so throughly." she chuckled, "He really didn't want us to find him."

A few days later they found themselves at the hotel. Anna leaned back in her seat examining the building. "Huh."

"What?" Courtney questioned reaching behind her to grab some badges noticing the police officers around the building.

"Well...I would never thought that a group of pagan gods would run a hotel joint..."

"Oh yeah...looks pretty cheap huh?"

"Yeah a little. You would think they would put some pizzaz in it." Anna shrugged as they got out of the car. They got out, slipping past some officers to the main ballroom. Slowly they pushed past some guards, flashing their fake badges. Anna looked around noticing the blood on the walls and puddles on the floor.

"Looks like we missed the party." she muttered turning to stare at her cousin who was standing a little ways away from her looking down at the floor, her face drained of color. Anna followed her gaze to see wing imprints burned into the floor. She felt her heart hit the floor, followed by her stomach.

"A-are those..." she couldn't get the words out, Courtney knelt down examining them more closely before shaking her head, relief flooding her face

"They're his...but it's only one set..." she explained turning to look up at Anna with a small grin, "The son of a bitch is still alive." the other hunter laughed, trying to fight the emotions that welled in her chest.

"So, let's get the hell out of here before the cops ask what we're doing here." Anna said reaching down to help her cousin back to her feet. Courtney nodded and quickly and quietly they left the hotel. "So...we go find the Winchesters?" Courtney asked as she slid into the passenger side of the jeep as Anna revved the engine.

"We go and find the Winchesters. I take the tall one?" she supplied and Courtney nodded.

"And I'll take the short one."

**Hello everyone! I would just like to thank everyone who has been viewing the story, you make me all very very happy! It's not over, I promise. I just wanted to give a shout out to the viewers! You all are awesome and thank you, thank you, thank you! So if you have any comments or want to know more about the story, just leave a review or private message me and I promise I will get back to you as soon as possible, also let me know if I write side stories for this and what you would want to see. I always love hearing what other people would want to see out of this series! So please give me a note or review! Thank you all so much! **

**Skully**


	5. The Truth Revealed

Chapter 5: The Truth Revealed

Dean scrubbed his face as he leaned against the back of his chair, he had to get the rings of the four horsemen. How the hell were they supposed to do this and why the hell did Gabriel just walk in there and get himself killed? They should have done something. He was so deep in his thoughts he looked up in time to see two canisters break through the window and fill the room with some sort of gas. Before he could back out to Sam to run, his limbs went numb as did his mind. He heard a dull thud coming from the bathroom and knew Sam was down. He turned his head hearing the door open and two figures entered wearing masks. Before he could open his mouth to question who they were, darkness engulfed his vision.

Courtney glanced at the men they had tied in the basement of one of Gabriel's many 'home bases'. She heard the fluttering of wings and saw Castiel standing there looking shocked and horrified.

"Hi Cas." she grinned and Anna laughed quietly from where she was sharpening some knives.

"What is going on here?" he questioned with anger shaking his voice. Courtney shrugged looking over her shoulder at the hunched over figures tied to the chairs on either side of the room.

"We were jut going to talk to them." she replied innocently and Castiel shook his head.

"You will do nothing of the sort."

"If they have something that will lead us to Gabriel...or if they've taken him somewhere, it doesn't really give us a choice...and because you're our angel and theirs, you have to be neutral. So, how about you show me what happened between them and Gabe?"

"That's private."

"He didn't sleep for weeks Cas. We have a right to know because we were the ones that stayed up with him when he had nightmares about Lucifer and the war."

"You do realize this would be from what I've seen, right?"

"I understand that..." Courtney agreed walking over to him, "But its important to us Cas."

"I can't take the two of you..."

"Then take Court, God knows I'd lose my temper. I'll just stay here and watch these chuckleheads." Anna answered pointing one of the now sharpened knife at the brothers. Castiel nodded placing two fingers on Courtney's forehead and then vanishing.

When Courtney opened her eyes she found herself standing beside Castiel in a damp warehouse. Gabriel was standing before them, one hand held up in snapping position. Dean and Sam Winchester stood in front of him, anger on their faces. Memory Castiel was breathing heavily glaring at the Archangel.

"Hello Gabriel." And instantly Courtney knew that look on Gabriel's face. It was his cornered animal look, meaning that if he couldn't physically lash out at someone then he was going to do so verbally.

"Hey bro." came the fake cheery smile, "How's the search for Daddy going...let me guess, awful." he stood there for a moment just staring at Castiel. Dean Winchester's deep voice caught her attention.

"Okay, we're out of here." He said backing up, the regret on Gabriel's face made her realize that he never wanted to say that. Gabriel missed his father...his family so much and no matter how close she and Anna got to the Archangel, they could never replace the family he knew for millenniums, no matter how foolishly they tried.

"You do know..." she whispered turning to look at Castiel, "He never meant what he said, he was just feeling trapped. He always verbally attacks someone when he can't physically do so. And just for the record, he loves you, he loves his family more than life itself..."

"Then why did he say that?"

"Because he's Gabriel...and from what I've seen, he can do some pretty stupid shit. But he never meant to hurt you. He was hurt and trapped...it...his mid isn't..." Courtney trailed of realizing that she was going into some very personal information.

"Isn't what?" Castiel questioned putting the memory on pause.

"It isn't whole...he was hurt very badly by Lucifer during the war...and from what Gabe told us...they trapped him in some holy fire...basically beat the crap out of him. It wasn't pleasant so when he's trapped, he'll lash out...me and Annie, we've learned not to put him in that situation, or just let him get it out of his system."

"I...I didn't know that..." Castiel murmured looking at his brother, "You were right when you said I didn't know the first thing about him..."

"Pshh, he would never want you to feel sorry for him...or yourself, alright?" Courtney grinned touching his shoulder, "He was more excited with seeing how much you grew up. You should have heard him when he came back...but let's continue."

Dean, Sam, and Castiel began walking away "Hey guys! So what? You're-You're just going to leave me here forever?" finally Dean turned around.

"No." he answered, "We're not, because we don't screw with people the way you do. And just for the record, this isn't about some prize fight between your brothers ...some destiny that can't be stopped, this is about you being afraid to stand up to your family!"

Gabriel's eyes went wide and Courtney bowed her head, she didn't approve of the way Dean said it, but he was right. Gabriel knew it, Courtney and Anna knew it...he was afraid to his very bones of both of his brothers. They weren't the same brothers he grew up with. They were obsessed and hateful. Gabriel had been beaten by one, shunned by the other. He had a right to be afraid, she could only imagine what was going through his head when he confronted Lucifer in the hotel.

"You know, Dean's words haunted him for weeks."she explained her eyes glued to Gabriel, "And he was right...and...Gabe did make a stand. But don't think I'm ever going to let Dean get away with how he said it. He doesn't know what Gabriel went through and he didn't have the right to say it. Gabe couldn't sleep for weeks."

"Courtney..."

"Don't worry, we won't hurt them...maybe just rough them up a bit." She assured with a small grin, "But I can't help it if Dean opens his big mouth and I lose my temper." Castiel nodded as he took her back. Anna looked up and grinned.

"So, have a nice trip?" she questioned looking between the two. Courtney couldn't help but blush that made its way to her face. "It wasn't like that, so have our sleeping beauties woken up yet?" she asked and Anna shrugged.

"They just stared moaning and twitching a little bit." She answered and as if on cue Sam moaned. Courtney nodded turning to look at the angel in the room, who looked very tempted to untie his other charges.

"You might want to get out of here Cas." she ordered, "Don't worry, they'll be fine." And with a slow, unsure nod and left.

Dean opened his eyes to find himself staring at his own bonds hands. He blinked in confusion and got the notion that he wasn't in the motel room anymore. He saw some blurry figures and hushed whispers. Finally one of the girls turned to stare down at him and instantly his stomach fell to the floor. It was the girls that had jumped them at the bar. He groaned looking at them.

"Jesus...you two again?" he questioned looking up at them. Courtney stared with disgust at the man tied to the chair before her. Castiel had just finished showing her what he said to Gabriel that night in the warehouse. What caused him to be quiet and reversed...what made the nightmares resurface...she shuddered just thinking about it. Plus, it let anger well within her chest. Taking the knife, she carried in her boot, out, she walked over to the defenseless man, curling her lips into a pleasant smile. She pulled a chair over to him, sitting down in front of the older hunter.

"Hi Dean."

"Where the hell are we?" he questioned, Courtney shrugged.

"That's not really important is it?"

"The hell it isn't! Where did you drag us off to? Is this some kind of sick joke?" Courtney sighed, they were never going to get anywhere like this.

"You're at our place. Happy? Now you and I are going to have a heart to heart."

"What makes you think I want to talk to you?" Dean questioned raising a brow. Gabriel's shattered expression flashed in her mind before she nodded taking his answer in. The next thing she knew she slugged him as hard as she could across the face. The chair fell and Dean landed to the ground with a satisfied thud. Courtney flexed her hand, damn that felt good. She grabbed the chair hauling it back to the way it was.

"You bitch!" Dean spat and Courtney shook her head.

"I'm pretty sure you don't want to call me that." She called over her shoulder as she turned to look through what Anna had found on the brothers. Anything that could be Gabriel's or lead them to him.

"What you can't face the truth? Like charge like angel, I guess." This made the female hunter bristle in anger, she whirled around to face the man, the anger must have been evident in her eyes because she flinched.

"What did you say? You don't know who Gabriel is or what he went through. So before you sit there like a pompous jackass like you know everything, maybe you should do some fucking research you so-called hunter. Do you have any idea the psychological trauma and nightmares you made resurface by putting him in that ring of fire. Do you even understand the consequences of your actions."

"Courtney treading on some sensitive ground there..." Anna called, the other hunter however shot her a look. The younger quickly dropped her head.

"No, they need to know. In order to find Gabe, we need them to tell them..." She turned back to the hunter, "Plus, they're not going to tell him what we say. Right? What Gabe doesn't know won't hurt him."

"What exactly did we do?" Sam questioned, Courtney turned facing the tall hunter.

"Listen, Mr. I Think I Can Talk Because I'm Taller Than Everyone Else, just because you're a moose, doesn't mean it's your turn to talk. You'll get your chance. Listen, Gabriel is all we have, our parents were killed by demons when we were six. Gabriel saved us. He took on the responsibility of being our big brother. He cares and provides for us. We went to college when we could and hunted monsters in the local area...when he moved, we moved. We'd transfer universities because we were still dependent on him. He can be a prick We've seen him when guys make advances towards us...but what you did went over the line. Maybe Cas didn't tell you what really went on up there during the war..."

"We know about the civil war...hell everyone does..." Dean said raising his head. Anna looked over at him a smirk on his face.

"That's not the whole story. So...it's obvious Cas doesn't trust you as much as you think he does."

"Allow me to explain, the Michael and Lucifer fight is the tip of the iceberg, the straw that broke the camel's back. The whole civil war is one big family feud. Brother against brother, father against children. Gabriel being the youngest archangel had the biggest target on his back...only because he loved his family. He loves Michael and Lucifer...he even loves Cas, even though he will not openly say it. The reason he ran away from heaven was not only because he didn't want to fight his brothers but because he is terrified, he knows what can happen when Michael and Lucifer clash. He doesn't want anyone to see that...the reason he didn't want us to see was because eons ago, way before were here here, Michael and Lucifer had a little spat and Gabriel got in the middle of it. I won't bore you with the details, but have you heard of the saying "don't shoot the messenger"? Well they shot the messenger. Lucifer trapped Gabe in a ring of fire, while he and Michael fought it out for the last time. And when it was over, Michael almost left him there to rot. So if you haven't guessed yet, we're not the biggest fans of Michael and Lucifer and we hate you because your mere existence causes Gabriel pain, knowing that you are going Lucifer and Michael's vessels. Oh and the whole "play your roles' yeah that was him trying to rip the Band-Aid off his very fractured mind. We didn't even know he had you...we were off working a case. And this isn't some prize fight boys, this is destiny, one day you will say yes, it's only a matter of time. I don't care if you think you can hold them off, Lucifer and Michael, one day are gonna ride your ass all the way to the apocalypse."

By the end, Dean had his head bowed and Sam was pale, his eyes were wide as dinner plates. "I think I just peed myself..." he whispered in a pathetic squeak. Anna turned to look at her from over her shoulder. "Good." she snapped turning to stare at the older Winchester.

"Where is Gabriel."

"I don't know..." Dean sighed, his gaze resting on her for a moment before looking down at his feet. Anna opened her mouth to say something when Courtney shot her a look.

"He's telling the truth." She sighed, looking over her shoulder at Anna who kicked an empty chair across the room, it smashed into the opposite wall. Anna rubbed her eyes, "God Dammit!" They were back to square one.

"We were at the hotel with him, he told us to get Kali out of there. So we did."

"You mean to tell us that you just left him to fight his brother alone?" Anna questioned staring at the man before her intently, Dean nodded.

"Well Dean-o, the first thing you've got o know about Gabriel is that he never means what he says. You have to read between the lines..." Courtney smirked, making Anna snicker.

"Yeah, like no means yes and don't go in there, means run in with guns drawn." an awkward silence stretched between the two pairs of hunters. Anna glanced at Courtney, the two seeming to have a telepathic conversation before Courtney moved in to untie Dean who sat rubbing his wrists. Anna doing the same for Sam.

"Uh...well...you have no way to leave really...Cas will bring the Impala somehow...so until then, we've got some rooms...and food. Mi casa, su casa." Courtney supplied and the two nodded hesitantly, trying to ignore the dark look they were receiving from Anna.


	6. Friendship to Las

Chapter 6: Friendship to Last

That night, after the Winchesters went to the room that the girls provided, Anna and Courtney sat in Gabriel's abandoned master bedroom. There was a king-sized bed tucked into one of the corners as well as a couch, television and bookshelf. Anna looked out the window, shifting her gaze to her cousin. She didn't want to have the talk she knew would be coming. Courtney, however, was older, so she made all the decisions.

"So...what are we going to do now? We have no leads, I mean, Gabriel could be dead for all we know." She sighed leaning against the wall, "Now we have our two rivals sleeping down the hall."

"What do you think we should do?" Courtney asked as she sat back on the couch.

"You're going to say team up, and I'm going to tell you that's a bad idea. We can't trust them."

"There are a whole lot of people in the world we can't trust. But we have to at least try. We can't do this alone. That's what got Gabe into this situation in the first place. He didn't ask for help."

"A hell of a time for him to be setting an example."

"Don't cut me off," Courtney sighed, noticing her cousin's irritated behavior, "I know we don't play well with others...but going in and doing this alone is suicide. Four hunters have a better chance than just two. We also have to face the fact that Lucifer might have Gabe. What do we do then? We don't stand a snow ball's chance in hell if it's just the two of us." Anna's jaw clenched as she let out a breath through her nose, shaking her head slightly.

"I still don't like this."

"I know."

"...I need a beer..." and with that Anna walked out of the room. As she stepped into the kitchen she blinked, noticing someone rummaging through the fridge. Reaching for her knife it took her a second to realize it was Dean.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she questioned raising a brow.

"Making a sandwich, what does it look like." He answered making her glare. She waited patiently for him to move out of the way before grabbing her desired drink. Twisting it open she sat on the countertop, staring down at the floor thinking. Every now and again taking a sip from the bottle.

"So what's on your mind?" came the question that pulled her from her thoughts.

"A lot. Look, I know you don't like us," she watched Dean's head snap up to stare at her, mouth opened in protest, "And we don't care much for you."

"Well, that's sweet." Dean snorted, Anna glared again making him slowly sink into silence.

"Don't be a smart-ass. Now that we have this mutual dislike out of ht way, we need your help."

"W-what?"

"I know, we're pretty badass, but we need you to help us find Gabe." Anna admitted, "You want a chance at stopping the end of the world right? Gabriel's your answer...well...his blade is. That sword is the only thing strong enough to kill Lucifer and Michael. Without it, you two are up shit's creek without a paddle."

"So what? We help you, you can guarantee that we can get the blade?"

"I'm saying, we can probably talk Gabe into letting you borrow it." Anna sighed looking at the floor again, "You would do anything to get Sam back if something happened to him right? And you still have people to support you...you've got Cas...all we have to call family now is Gabriel. He's all we've ever known apart from each other and hunting So I will do anything to get him back, even if I have to wrestle that blade from his fingers to give it to you."

Dean stare at the girl for a while, she was right, he would do anything for Sam. Hell, he sold his soul at one time to get his brother back.

"I know where you're coming from..." he whispered, "but we don't trust you..."

"And we don't trust you either but if you and Sam help us...the sooner we can get this over with and never have to cross paths again. Court's probably going to ask you team up with us tomorrow...so just think about what I said, alright?"

"Fine." Dean sighed going back to eat his sandwich leaving Anna to drift back into her thoughts.


	7. Forces of Destiny

Chapter 7: Forces of Destiny

The next morning, Courtney walked down into the kitchen, noticing Anna sitting on the counter, looking like she didn't sleep all night. Leaning against the doorway she watched the younger rub her eyes tiredly, reaching down to look at her phone. It was a habit, even Courtney found herself every now and again glancing at her cellphone hoping that maybe Gabriel called or texted. A small tired smile pulled at Anna's lips as she replied to a text and Courtney smiled. Thank heaven for little things, she knew Anna's boyfriend would lighten her spirit, even if it was just a bit.

"Hey." she greeted with a grin, walking into the room. Anna looked up and smiled a bit.

"Morning."

"You might need to give him a call." the older hunter said making the younger sigh. The phone in her hands lighting up again. Anna looked down and grinned, meeting her cousin with a small content glint in her eyes.

"He's on his way. He'll be here in twenty minutes." she explained hopping down.

"Well, you should go and make yourself a bit more presentable." Courtney teased tugging on some of the short hair, making Anna's nose scrunch up as she batted the hand away, a small scowl coming across her face.

"Are you saying I stink?"

"No, I'm saying you look like you just stayed up all night sitting on the counter."

"That's because I did." she sighed, and that's when Courtney saw the gun sitting beside Anna, the metal glinting in the early morning sunlight.

"What is that doing out?"

"I just wanted to make sure the Winchesters didn't do anything stupid." Anna explained, "We...I at least, don't trust them, so until they prove themselves, I'm going to make sure they don't stab us in the back." Courtney had to smile at that, she could always count on Anna having her back, even into the wee hours of the night. It didn't hurt that her cousin was also a good shot.

"Ah, that would explain why I slept so good last night." She watched the younger hunter roll her shoulders snorting, "Anyway, go take a quick shower and freshen up. You haven't seen him in what...a month?"

"Yeah."

"Then go look nice for your man. Be a good girlfriend." With amusement in her eyes Courtney watched as Anna reluctantly climb the stairs to the bathroom. Once she heard the door close she turned to the cabinet grabbing some cereal before pausing. Anna's boyfriend usually brought food with him whenever he came over, so there was really no point in fixing breakfast.

She heard heavy footsteps come down the stairs and saw Dean and Sam standing in the doorway, "Morning." she greeted, trying to make it not as awkward as it seemed.

"Uh...morning." Sam greeted nudging Dean in the ribs with a well aimed elbow. The elder grunted before turning to smile up at her.

"Hi."

"So, there's some cereal in the cabinets and milk in the fridge. Clean dishes are in the top dishwasher." Courtney explained and they nodded. The group ate in silence as Courtney patiently waited for Anna to come down buttoning the red dress shirt. pulling a white camisole down to cover her belt. Two brown boots were clutched against her sides. She looked up when she got herself together.

"Better?" she questioned and Courtney nodded.

"Much."

Suddenly the soft flutter of wings filled the air and Anna turned seeing a tall man with blonde wind-swept hair. His handsome face pulling into a smile.

"Hello Darlings." he greeted cheerfully, "Thought you might need some cheering up, so I brought food, coffee from Italy and pastries from my favorite cafe in Paris. Indulge." He put the bag down on the counter, seemingly oblivious to the two hunters sitting at the table staring at him in shock.

"You know each other?" Anna questioned and Balthazar let out a exasperated sigh, turning to look at her.

"Regretfully."

"We could say the same thing about you." Sam snapped as she stood.

"Hey, I had a good thing going for me as a thief. Then you blockheads show up asking for the colt that I clearly did not have. Bella should have never have given you my name. Then you decide to call me whenever you damn well feel like it...to which I keep reminding you to stop calling me!"

"What are you doing here Balthazar?" Dean questioned.

"Well, they called." he explained moving to stand beside Anna who glared at the them.

"You mean you jus came? Where's all the crap for the ritual?"

"Oh, you don't get it, I like them," the angel explained gesturing at the two girls, "I hate you."

"Well that's reassuring," Dean snorted eyes going to the bag of pastries that Courtney was digging through, "Why?"

"Because they have boobs. You...you're just a bowlegged hillbilly and you," Balthazar said pointing at Sam, "Are a moose. So naturally they win the war for my affections, oh yes, and let's not forget that they haven't tried to kill me."

"That's actually a good point." Anna agreed and Balthazar grinned wrapping an arm around her shoulder, pressing a kiss to her temple. Courtney watched the two hunters' jaws drop at the sight.

"Oh yeah, they're kind of a thing." she explained, "Hey you two, keep it PG."

"Right, right." Balthazar sighed leaning against the counter, Anna hoisting herself to sit beside him.

"So I take it Anna's told you everything?" Courtney questioned and Balthazar nodded.

"Naturally, and we will get him back, you have my word." he answered with a sincere look in his eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, how do you know this guy will keep his word. Balthazar hasn't exactly got a good track record here." Dean stated, remembering the wild goose chase the thief-angel had sent them on, searching for the colt.

"Look here Dean." Anna glared from her perch, "If we agree to work together, you're going to have to learn to control your mouth. I trust Balth more than I will ever trust you."

"Easy Darling, you're making me all tingly." Balthazar smirked.

"Well, it's easy to se who wears the pants in the relationship." Sam sneered, and Balthazar's eyes narrowed. Courtney could see the war that was brewing before her eyes as she stepped forward.

"Look, we need to find Gabriel. This is my party." Courtney explained gesturing to Anna and Balthazar, "And I trust them, so if we are going to have a problem, then tell me now so I figure out how the deal with it."

"There's no problem." Dean growled.

"Good, now get Cas, and let's get this show on the road."


	8. The Devil Plays a Smoking Trumpet

Chapter 8: The Devil Plays A Smoking Trumpet

It was mid-afternoon and still nothing could be found. Gabriel seemed to have vanished off the face of the planet. The two angels could not sense his Grace which meant a few things as they explained to the four hunters sitting anxiously before them on the plush couch.

"There are a few theories we have on why we can't feel Gabriel." Balthazar began, "One, is perhaps he was turned mortal. Had his grace ripped out. The other could be that he is being held somewhere that has been completely angel proofed...or he's been. Like Cas did with Sam and Dean."

"Or," Castiel began hesitantly, "he's dead."

"Well," Courtney sighed rising from her spot on the arm of the sofa, "that's not an option. So, what do we do now?"

"Since Angel's can't find him, that leaves demons. The scourge of the Earth. There has to be some whispers going on in hell, a defenseless Archangel is bound to reach their God forsaken ears." Balthazar sighed.

"Well, who did you have in mind?" Sam questioned, watching as Balthazar and Castiel exchanged uncertain looks. Balthazar stepped forward.

"His name is Iblis."

"Iblis? Wait, wait, you mean the jinn Iblis? I thought that was just another name of Lucifer?" Courtney said raising a brow in confusion. Balthazar shrugged.

"He's just a jinn, but demons have taken him in as on of their own, specifically crossroad demons. He'll come if there's a deal to be made." Castiel answered before the blonde haired angel.

"Will a devil's trap work on him?" Dean asked and Balthazar shook his head.

"You don't need to worry about that. Castiel and I will make the trap. Then you leave Iblis to us, we just need you as bait." Balthazar explained, "So basically sit there and look pretty and don't try anything stupid." His blue gaze traveled to the four hunters, who hung their heads, looking almost like children being told what to do.

"Wo how do we find him?" Anna questioned and Balthazar gave her a small grin.

"Well, we need to know the name of the jinn we want to summon...which we already do. The spell itself is tricky though. It has to be preformed beginning to end on the night and morning of a full moon between the hours of 12:00 am and 3:00 am. We'll need a mirror...and red, black, and white candles. Then someone, Courtney preferably, needs to say Allah, Safim, barat, shiu, and kamir, three times. Light your candles and then write what you want on the mirror. Then we get him before you can make your wish. Alright?"

"What about the exchange? Don't Jinn usually want something in return. Plus if Iblis decides he wants to be a demon, he'll just use their method." Sam asked and Balthazar gave them all a quick reassuring smile.

"Castiel and I will take care of that. Now, get to prepping for the spell. There's a full moon tonight and the sooner we can get this started the better." The angels then watched the hunters scramble around for the materials needed for preforming the spell. Castiel casted a wearied glance at his old friend.

"This could be extremely dangerous. Iblis is strong...perhaps too strong."

"But he'll have the information we need.

"I still don't think this is a wise decision." Castiel argued quietly and Balthazar sighed scrubbing his face with his hand.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Castiel, even you realize that. There is war brewing in heaven between you and Raphael. You out of all people should know what happens when we have to risk things in order to gain victories. No one won wars sitting on their ass twiddling their thumbs...and we aren't going to find Gabriel moping around the house."

"If this fails..." he black haired angel warned, blue eyes sparking with protectiveness.

"Then it will be on my head, I would never let anything hurt Annie or Courtney, so you look after your people and I'll look after mine. How does that sound?"

"The Winchesters..."

"Can bite me. If know you care for them Castiel, but I can't stand them. Anna is going to be my future mate, and her family is now my family, so they will always come before the Winchesters and the world. So someone in my family is lost and I intended to find them, with or without your help." And with that Balthazar went to find the hunters, Castiel's firm hand on his shoulder made him turn and see a small flicker in those usually cool depths.

"You've changed."

"Well, you can thank that little spitfire." Balthazar chuckled, "And I can tell you the same think." A small smile curled the corners of Castiel's lips as he let go of the blonde haired angel and they walked through the house to try and find the hunters. When opening the door they saw Dean and Anna moving some things aside while Courtney and Sam got the ritual ready. They looked up when the two angels entered the room.

"This is looking promising. Thank God, Anna and Dean haven't touched anything pertaining to the ritual." Balthazar said, marveling, in how well the duos were working together. He honestly thought they would be at one another's throats by now.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" Anna questioned with a scowl on her face.

"Nothing Darling." Assured Balthazar holding his hands up in a defensive manner. Castiel watched on silently. When the last candle was in place, they could not nothing more but wait for midnight to strike. They went into the living room of the house, lounging on the furniture when Dean noticed something under the large television that hung on the wall.

"What's that?" he questioned, making Anna and Courtney turn to look at one another before walking over to where they found a bound book resting by itself on the shelf. Sometimes they had to leave safe houses quickly and forgot to pack things. Courtney reached down and grabbed it wiping the dust off the leather cover. In gold it read PHOTO ALBUM. Swallowing the lump that built in her throat, she opened the first page. Tears pricked in her eyes as she sat down. There was a picture of Gabriel standing in front of their first safe house, looking up at it, one little girl was balanced on his hip while another girl's hand was wrapped securely in his own.

"That's us...there's Court." Anna explained pointing at the girl who was on the ground, "And that's me." her finger tapped on the girl in Gabriel's arm.

"It was the first safe house we got...who was taking the picture?"

"Kali maybe."

"Ah that's right...it was still under construction and he didn't want us running off and getting our dresses dirty. We were supposed to go out to dinner that night." Anna explained to the others.

"We were such bad kids. How did he put up with us?" Courtney joked as she turned the page. That was how the rest of the day was spent, looking through the pictures that littered the pages. They came to one final page, Anna laughed when she saw one of her and Gabriel waiting at the bus stop for Courtney's return. She looked in mid tug on his shirt when the shot was taken, Gabriel's hand was resting on her head as he looked to be explaining that they had to be patient.

"It's hard to believe that this is the same person." Sam commented, "How did he become so...hateful?"

"He was never hateful." Anna explained, "He has a reason for everything...even his pranks. He tries to teach those those that are prideful not to be such jackasses and use them as a warning to others. He's seen what pride can do to people...to families...but he knows from experience that gently explaining it, won't get the message across to he has to pull the tough love card."

"That would explain the Trickster." Dean sighed, looking at the clock, "And as much as I loved this trip down memory lane, we have a jinn to summon."

"Right." Anna nodded, the two angels watched the four humans walk into the empty room. They stood just outside the door working on concealing their grace so the jinn wouldn't spook.

Courtney read the incantations watching as the artificial lights began to flicker, the flame on the candles leaping almost to the ceiling of the room. "Well, well, well, isn't this delightful." A smooth voice called, they turned to see a young man coming from the corner of the room, his eyes flashed blue, the trademark of a jinn, as he settled himself into a chair, "And unexpected."

"We need your help Iblis."

"And your wish is my command. But you'll have to do something for little ol' me in return. So, shall we start making our deal?"

"The hell we will." Dean grinned pointing up, Iblis followed the finger, his gaze landing on the binding spell that was carved into the ceiling. Rage filled the handsome face as he growled in an almost animalistic manner at them.

"Listen here you little worm." The jinn snarled rising from his chair, "I on't think you know who you're dealing with."

"Your right, we don't." Courtney said, making Iblis turned to her, "But they do." And in that moment Castiel and Balthazar entered the room. Disgust filled the jinn's features before the morphed into a charming smile.

"Hello Castiel, Balthazar, long time no see. So whatever can I do for you?"

"Tell us everything you know about a missing archangel." Castiel answered.

"Well, you know I don't make deals without some sort of reward." Iblis countered.

"How about this," Balthazar began reaching into his blazer for his blade, "we don't kill you and you tell us everything you know about Gabriel's disappearance." At this Iblis nodded, he walked around the circle, looking at the angels. His eyes glancing every now and again at the blades in their hands.

"That sounds promising, but..." his eyes shifted to Anna, a smirk coming across his face when he saw Balthazar move to step in front of her, "oh, well, isn't this interesting, the angel-thief and the charge of an Archangel. My, my, putting your neck out there aren't you Balthy."

"Don't call me that you piece of shit." The angel snapped, his eyes narrowing into a fierce glare.

"Fine, what about the other one?" Iblis said gesturing to Courtney, Balthazar was about to open his mouth to protest when Castiel beat him to it.

"She's off limits. No one here is going to make your deal Iblis. so you have two options, tell us what we want to know, or stay here forever."

"You can't do that. You would be upsetting the balance of the world."

"Fine, then we'll just kill you." Balthazar said, "It would give me great pleasure."

"Now, now, no need to get all homicidal on me. I'll tell you what you want to know, if you promise to let me out of here, unharmed."

"Fine." Courtney agreed, Iblis stood before her, the cocky smile still plastered on his face.

"Then call off your guard dogs."

"We will when you tell us what we want to know about Gabriel." she said, and the jinn nodded moving to sit back in his chair.

"Well, there have been whispers about your little archangel. Lucifer did quiet the number on him, but he doesn't have him. No, we all know Lucifer is too busy trying to bring about the end of the world. So the kidnapper is someone from your past boys." He said point to Dean and Sam, "I think you know her very well. She's going around and creating an army, using an angel's Grace to take out her adversaries. Thing is, the Grace has Gabriel written all over it and everyone's itching to get a hold of that. Soon there won't be anymore Grace left, and he'll most likely be killed."

"Who has him Iblis." Courtney demanded and the jinn shrugged, head nodding to Dean and Sam. "Ask them. They seem to run into her enough."

"Ruby?" Sam asked and Iblis shook his head, amusement shinning ins his eyes.

"You killed her remember? Now let's try again. Your father and her father have quiet a long history and let's not forget, Sammy here knows her quiet well."

"Meg." Dean growled turning and running a hand through his hair, "Son of a bitch!"

"Very good, now, I've held up my end. Free me."

"Fine." Sam growled taking chair and standing on it. He took out a knife and scraped off some of the paint. Iblis smirked rocking back on his heels.

"Well, thank you for the exciting evening. And please note that if you ever try to summon me again, I will not hesitate to kill you. Have a nice night." And with a snap of his fingers, the jinn was gone.

"So, we have to find Meg..." Dean sighed, turning to look at Castiel who's jaw clenched, "You have a better chance, I mean, she lies you."

"That's not funny Dean." He nearly growled.

"But it's the truth. So you and Balthazar have to find the bitch before she bleeds the last of the Grace out of Gabriel. She won't hesitate to kill him once he finishes his purpose."

"Right, we'll return shortly." Balthazar promised and with the flapping of wings the angels were gone.


	9. Strength of a Thousand

Chapter 9: Strength of a Thousand

The hunters readied themselves for the battle that was going coming. Every demon and their mothers would be there, looking to get a piece of the Archangel's Grace to secure themselves some power. Courtney threw the last gun in the bag, throwing it over her shoulder. "Alright boys, throw your crap into the jeep." At this Dean's head shot up, not wanting to drive anything but his beloved Impala. He raised a brow walking over to the young woman.

"Why does it have to be your jeep? Our car is just as good."

"Because our jeep can go off road and has a rifle mounted to the frame. I think it might come in handy. Don't you?" she said.

"A what?"

"My baby, the rifle. Can stop a horde of demons, plus we designed the bullets to explode with honey water once it breeches the host. It's enough to knock any demon out of their vessel." She explained and Sam nodded slowly as they walked out to the car. Balthazar to their surprise was already there but what shocked them the most was the dark brown wings tucked against his back. Usually Angels didn't bring their wings into this realm of existence.

"So are we ready for a little ride?" He questioned casually, "We've found where Meg has Gabriel. There's an army waiting for us..but I think we can handle them."

"Good, so are we just gong to follow you?" Courtney questioned and Balthazar nodded.

"Yes. Castiel is already there, waiting for us and keeping an eye on the situation." With a nod they got into the jeep watching the angel's wings spread has he took off into the sky. They followed his imprint in the sky until they came to a small town. Anna gripped his pistol, noticing how empty it seemed. She looked over at her cousin who seemed equally disturbed.

"Demons." They heard Dean whisper the word under his breath. They saw Castiel and Balthazar up ahead and slowly the jeep pulled to a stop. The hunters got out and stared at the large rickety warehouse out in the distance. "He's there." Castiel explained, "And there's an army just within the walls armed with an angel's grace...Gabriel's Grace.

"How many are there Cas?" Sam questioned. The dark hared angel shook his head, his gaze turning back to the warehouse.

"It's hard to say...a thousand at most..."

"Well, this seems to be a fight of biblical proportions then." Anna sighed, "The few versus the many."

"We can do this." Courtney began, "All we have to do is hold them off until Castiel or Balthazar can get Gabriel and then we turn tail and get the the hell out of there. Alright?"

"Sounds like a plan." Dean agreed, he turned to the angels, "So who's going to get him?"

"I'll do it." Castiel said, "I know Balthazar will probably want to fight alongside Anna..." when he said that he noticed the relief that flooded the blonde angel's glacier blue eyes. He knew angels would always fight alongside those they care about and Castiel was fighting his own urge to fight with the Winchesters and...maybe...even Courtney. Closing his eyes he forced the thought to the dark parts of his mind. He had to focus.

They broke off and began to walk towards their destination, Dean kicked open the doors and instantly all the demons turned to look at them. Anna and Courtney's gaze turned to the catwalk. Hearts leaping to their chest when they saw Gabriel. His hands were over his head, his wrists were encased with chains that were tied to the rafters. His legs were bent, declaring that he didn't have the strength to hold himself up. They noticed his right leg was mangled; how it was was still attached to his body they could not even begin to fathom. Next to him with a knife stood Meg, a small grin curling the corners of her lips. Gabriel's head shot up as she whispered something in his ear. His gaze fell to the hunters and angels standing in the entry way.

"Cas..." Dean whispered and the angel nodded, his own coal black wings extending, ready for take off.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the rescue party." Meg's voice bounced off the tin walls of the warehouse in almost a joking manner. Anna's eyes narrowed, her finger shaking on the trigger slightly, what she wouldn't give just to shot the demon between the eyes, "This is all? Four lousy hunters and two fallen angels? You sure know how to pick them Mr. Archangel."

"Let him go Meg." Castiel's voice boomed, his grace lashing out, making the building tremble.

"Is that you Castiel? Well, how about you come up here and we can discuss it." she purred leaning over the railings, "The others though, are going to have to mingle." an with a snap of her fingers the demons moved, Courtney fired into the crowd until her gun was empty. She growled under her breath knocking a demon away with the butt of her gun, sending it sprawling back into the masses. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Castiel take flight and meet the demon on the catwalk. Wincing as she blocked another blow she realized she had to fight and have some faith that Castiel was going to get Gabriel out of there.

Anna gripped the handle of her knife slamming her fist into a demon's face. She stepped back, feeling someone collide with her. Looking briefly over her shoulder she saw Balthazar just finishing off a demon. He glanced back at her and a small grin pulled the corner of his lips up.

"I've always got your back Darling." He explained an Anna couldn't help but smile back.

"Couldn't ask for anyone better." She said as his hand grabbed her arm pulling her down as a demon tried to lunge only to get a angel blade through the throat. He watched for a moment as it landed to the floor with a satisfying thud.

Dean and Sam were holding their own, using Ruby's knife they hacked and slashed their way through the crowd. It was easy to see the small group was becoming overwhelmed and Castiel know he needed to end this quickly. He pushed Meg back as she lunged at him. He dodged the blow and then another, striking out with his own blade which she in turn dodged. Castiel then saw his opening and grabbed her by the warm. Without warning he threw her from the catwalk watching as she landed into the masses below. He quickly made his way to Gabriel, the Archangel was a mess, bruises and cuts littered his frame. Blood soaked through the jeans he was was wearing around his right leg. Castiel could already tell it would be useless for the rest of his life. He took Gabriel's face in his hands, noticing the small cuts that freckled his face, gold eyes dull and dazed.

"Gabriel." He called tapping on an unbloodied cheek, "Gabriel." Slowly the angel's gaze turned to him.

"C-Cas..." he whispered his voice growing hoarse. The Angel of Thursday nodded quickly moving to untie him, pulling the chain hard enough for it to break. He caught Gabriel in his arms moving to jump off the catwalk, spreading his wings he held the small Archangel to his chest protectively. Taking off into the air he broke through one of the windows sheltering the fragile body with his own.

"Cas has Gabriel, fall back!" Dean's voice called and the five pulled out of the mass, turning and running as fast as they could knowing demons were on their tail. The jeep stood untouched in the distance, and all were never happier to see the large car. Jumping in, the hunters watched Balthazar take off into the sky, the demons were closing in. Courtney pressed the gas pedal to the floor and the car took off down the dirt road.

"They still following us?" she questioned and Anna turned moving half her body out the window.

"Yeah," she fired some shots into the mob, "Dean, Sam start pulling the velcro loose." The boys got to work seeing the canvas that covered something. Pulling the fabric away they saw what was basically a cannon mounted to the frame of the jeep. Anna slid back moving to pop a section of the roof, standing on the eat and positioning herself to look through the scope. Aligning her shot, she fired into the mass of demons.

"Hell yeah." she smirked before looking her shoulder and quickly sliding back into her seat and buckling her seatbelt as Courtney swerved off the road, dodging two demons blocking the bridge.

"Hold on to something boys!" she called seeing that they were going to have to attempt a leap of faith. Anna held on to one of the bars.

"Hold on to what?" Dean called and Anna turned to look back at her fellow hunters.

"Each other if it helps! Just brace yourselves!" when the statement left her lips the jeep was in the air. Everyone screamed, Courtney was white knuckling the steering wheel. Anna's eyes were clenched shut as she held on to anything she could get her hands on. The Winchesters mouths were open in a silent scream and their eyes were wide. Everyone felt the front tires hit the ground followed by the back. The car rolled to a stop and everyone didn't breath for two seconds.

"A-are we alive?" Dean questioned his face just as pale as everyone else in the car.

"I...I think so..." Courtney whispered looking at her cousin who stared back at her. There was the sound of something landing on top of the car, causing everyone to look up. Balthazar stood glaring down at the four hunters.

"That was incredibly stupid. We'll discuss this later." He snapped, taking off into the air.

"Shit...he's pissed..." Anna whispered, sinking down in her seat as they drove to the safe house.


	10. Hurt

Chapter 10: Hurt

When they pulled into the driveway, Anna and Courtney quickly got out, hearing a scream come from the house. Dean and Sam followed after as they ran through the door and up the stairs. Ballthazar stood staring into a room, arms crossed as his body leaned against the doorframe. There was a crying whimper and someone trying to sooth it in an old lost language. Anna and Courtney instantly recognized it as Enochian. Balthazar looked up at them. "Dean, Sam, please help Castiel." he asked of them quietly and the two nodded pushing past the two girls. Anna and Courtney moved to follow when Balthazar's strong arms stopped them holding them in place. "You'll have to wait out here girls."

"But..." Anna protested looking to the room as a pained cry echoed through the halls.

"I'm afraid you'll do more harm than good...come on, let's wait in the living room." He said ushering them down the stairs.

The two hunters lost track of time as they sat with the angel. Anna nestled against his chest while Courtney had buried her face in his shoulder, both cringing at the sounds of agony coming from up the stairs. Balthazar had tried to offer them as much comfort as he could, his heart going out to the one making those sounds. Finally the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs made them turn. Sam followed by Dean came to stand in front of them.

"He'll make it." Sam explained, "But there were some complications...most of the wounds will scar...and we were able to save his leg...but it will next to useless..."

"So...what...he'll be crippled?" Courtney asked her voice rising barely above a whisper as the iciness of dread settled in her stomach.

"Looks like it...Cas tried healing him with some Angel Mojo, but for some reason it's not working." Dead answered, his expression full of regret, "He's up there with him now...but you can go an see him."

"T-Thank you for everything...Dean, Sam..." Courtney said rising from the couch followed by Anna and Balthazar.

"It's no problem..we'll uh..be in our rooms in you need us." Dean said walking down the hall, Sam following his brother with his head bowed. Courtney walked up the stairs turning when she saw Anna standing there, looking much like a child who had to go speak with their angry parents.

"Annie? Come on." she urged but still got no reply from the younger. Anna didn't want to walk up those stairs. She didn't want to see the damage that had been done to Gabriel. She didn't want to see the man she had once though invisible...so utterly broken. A large hand wrapped around hers, she turned to meet glacier blue orbs and a reassuring squeeze to her palm.

"Come on now Anna, we'll do it together." Balthazar whispered and with a small nod they began walking up the stairs. Courtney stopped them and hugged Anna knowing exactly what she was going through. Together the cousins walked up the stairs their hearts hammering in their chests. When they came to the door, Courtney placed her hand on the doorknob, leaving it there for a moment. She closed her eyes and took a breath in through her nose and out her mouth before turning the knob and watching as the door swung open gently.

Castiel sat by the bed, turning to see who had come through the door. "Hello girls." he greeted and Courtney smiled weakly, walking over the bed, Anna staying close to her side. The younger hunter swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw the cuts on Gabriel's pale face. His lower lip was swollen from the cut that split it. "Gabe?" Courtney called and the eyes fluttered with a small groan. Honey gold eyes opened and a weak smile pulled at his lips as he spotted the two girls standing by his bed.

"Annie, Court..." he whispered an they were by his side in an instant, kneeling on either side of the bed, hands grasping at his, "How are you doing girls?"

"We should be asking you that." Anna grinned trying to stop the tears that welled in her eyes, "You look like hell."

"I feel like it."

"Balth, can you go to the medicine cabinet and get some painkillers?" Courtney asked and the blonde angel nodded leaving the room.

"Hope you two didn't cause any trouble for Castiel..." Gabriel winched slightly as he tried to sit up, Castiel was there in an instant pushing him back to the bed.

"You shouldn't try to sit up yet." He said and Gabriel frowned before sighing, his hands gripping the girls tightly.

"Yeah, yeah...so what's the damage bro? What am I looking at here?"

"You're mortal...and one of your legs is crippled." The Angel of Thursday explained not hiding or softening the heavy blows. Gabriel's eyes closed as a tear slipped past the thick lashes disappearing into his honey colored hair.

"I...I figured that..." He whispered, "Just hoped it wasn't true."

"It'll be alright Gabe...We'll be with you...We'll take care of you." Courtney assured reaching out to brush some tears from his face with a thumb, a reassuring smile coming across her face. Anna nodded gripping his hand tightly in hers.

"We won't let anything hurt you..." Anna promised and Castiel quietly stood leaving the small family to reunite with one another. Courtney watched him go, leaning over she pressed a kiss to Gabriel's forehead telling him that she'd be right back. She closed the door and saw Castiel making his way down the stairs.

"Cas!" she called quietly and he turned.

"Courtney. Is Gabriel alright?" He questioned and she nodded, wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you...so much..." She whispered into his shoulder, the angel could hear and feel his vessel's heart speed up and suddenly his cheeks began to burn along with his ears.

"Y-You're welcome..." He said swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, pulling her away gently.

"No, seriously Cas, thank you. I don't know what we would have done without your help..." She pressed, Castiel only nodded rubbing the back of his neck.

"You should return to Gabriel's side. He's been waiting to see you...and you've been wanting to see him."

"Right." And he watched as she turned and walked back to the room. He then continued to go down the stairs, looking up to notice Balthazar giving him a smile that could rival that of the Cheshire Cat.

"What?" Castiel growled in annoyance.

"You like her." He smirked and the other angel's eyes narrowed.

"I don't se how it's your concern." Castiel said, "Anyway, I have to go."

"Fine, just ring when you need me." Balthazar sighed, waiving his companion off. The Angel of Thursday vanished with the flapping of Wings.


	11. After the Fall

Chapter 11: After the Fall

Anna sighed as she opened Gabriel's bedroom door. he said in a chair by the window, never making a peep as she stepped into the room. It was time to change his bandages, setting down her supplies on the nightstand she slowly walked over to him, grabbing the crutch that was resting beside the chair. "Hey Gabe, it's time to change your bandages." she whispered making him turn slightly to face her. He closed his eyes before looking back at the scenery outside, "Maybe after we're finished we can go outside...would you like that?" there was a slow shake of the head. Anna desperately fought the urge to cry at the broken man in front of her. This was not he cheery, happy-go-lucky, individual that raised her; this was just what was left behind when he died. This was not her Gabriel and she wanted him back so much it hurt.

"Well, we have to change your bandages or you'll get an infection." She explained helping him to his feet. She saw his eyes narrow as he fought to sit back down, "Gabe, please-"

"Just leave me alone!" he snapped ,"All I want is to be left alone to rot in my own personal hell!" Anna in shock let him go and he collapsed back to the chair, using a shaking hand to cover his eyes as he sobbed.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered, "I...I didn't mean to yell at you...just...just go, please Annie." Anna stepped forward pulling the hand gently from his eyes and placing both of hers on either side of his face.

"It's okay Gabe," she assured, "we're going to get through this...no please let me change your bandages and I'll leave you alone okay?"

"Why are you still here?" Gabriel questioned suddenly, "Why haven't you and Courtney left yet?"

"Because we love you." She smiled sadly, "And we fought to get you back. We're not going to let you slip through our fingers so easily."

"I...I know...you aren't just going to let me walk out of your lives..." He said smiling weakly, a sob lingering at the end of the sentence.

"Damn right. We said we're going to take care of you, and that's what we're going to do. We're in a rough spot right now...but it it's gonna get better. It always going to get better."

"Thank you..." Gabriel whispered, "T-thank you for not giving up on me." Anna gave him a grin.

"Now are you going to let me do my job?"

"Yeah..." He grinned, "Give me the crutch and help me over to bed..."


	12. I Love You Forever

Chapter 12: I Love You Forever

Soon Gabriel began getting better, he was slowly healing from his experience and was shifting into mortal life. There were still times when he would lock himself in his room and mope but they were becoming rare. The girls continued hunting at Gabriel's request, he had become their encyclopedia offering information on whatever supernatural creature they were coming up against and taking on cases. They still kept in contact with the Winchesters and Castiel, however, during the recent months it seemed as though the Winchesters had dropped off the face of the Earth taking Castiel with them. Anna though had noticed on the few occasions that Castiel visited in the past, that the angel and her cousin clearly had feelings for one another. Both, however, were two stubborn to break and tell the other how they felt. So taking matters into her own hands, she decided to talk to Courtney about it. She looked up as her cousin came into the kitchen.

"Morning." Anna greeted with a small grin from the stove where she was making pancakes.

"Morning." Came the reply. Courtney pulled out the stool and watched her for a moment, before Anna made a sound to catch her attention.

"What?"

"You like Cas." she said making the older turn bright red.

"I-I...It's not like that." She sputtered, narrowing her eyes slightly watching the sly smirk curl the corner of Anna's lips.

"Please, you look at Cas the same way I look at Balth." Anna explained putting down the spatula, "It's as plain as day, so when are you going to break down and tell the man how you feel?"

"We're just friends. Nothing will come out of it."

"And you know why nothing will come out of it, right? It's because you're both too stubborn to do so! Just take a leap of faith Court, who knows, he may like you back."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then oh-well, next batter up to the plate, but you're never gonna know if you don't take the chance." she sighed running a hand through her hair in frustration. They quieted when the sound of someone coming down the stairs filled the small house. Courtney looked over at Anna with a glare.

"Listen, this conversation never happened."

"Oh right, I'm just going to pretend I never opened my mouth."

"I know I will and you had better do the same." And at that moment Gabriel entered the room sensing the tension in the air he hobbled over to the coffee maker.

"So...did I miss something." He questioned glancing at the girls from over his shoulder. He was met, of course, with glare that could very well have the possibility to freeze hell over, "Alright, alright, I'll just help myself to some pancakes and eat quietly in the corner...don't mind me..." The house became quiet after that.

By mid-afternoon, Anna found herself on the roof chucking some rocks she had found off it. The sound of fluttering wings caught her attention as she turned to see Balthazar standing there.

"Hey." she sighed turning to look back at mountains in the distance.

"Well, aren't you just the most cheery thing I have ever seen." He commented moving to sit down beside her.

"Bad morning."

"Ah, may I ask what happened?" he questioned and she snorted, "Okay, removing myself from the situation. But Anna, I've actually come to ask you to do something for me." At this she turned raising a brow.

"What?"

"Well, you know how Courtney always teases me about getting you an engagement ring?"

"Yeah...Oh Balthy...you-"

"Now before I go and make a complete and utter fool of myself, do you love me?" he asked and she turned red.

"Of course I do." she said, "But-" Balthazar reached down and gripped her hands tightly.

"Then please for the love of Dad let me finish." He sighed, "Right...well...you are everything to me, and that's saying a lot because I have little or no patience for some humans. So you remember how we first met? I was pretending to be a cross-roads demon and you knocked me flat on my ass and threatened to exorcise me and make sure I never crawled out of hell again."

"Well, that's a romantic way to a proposal."

"The point is, you were the first human to ever do that to me. You didn't offer much slack after that, even after I told you I was an angel. Then, you threatened to rip my wings from my back and still shove me into hell...truth be told, I hated you, and well it was plain to see that you hated me as well." Anna's mouth opened to protest or reprimand him, but he angel continued, "But after working with you so many times and seeing so many different sides of you..beyond the silent angry hunter...I began to like you and eventually fall head over wings for you. You, however, didn't seem to share my new epiphany and kept playing hard to get if I remember correctly."

"Well, you weren't exactly being too shy with your feeling there Balth."

"Right." he chuckled bowing his head, a smile on his lips, "But you finally cracked and I think we've been golden ever since...but with the civil war happening in heaven...I...I want to make sure you are happy and know how much I love you...because we both know in war, anything can happen. I would give anything to have you stand by my side and let me stay by yours." He reached into the pocket of his blazer and pulled out a ring, the stone in the center glowing brightly, the white light swirling within it's container.

"W-what's that?" Anna questioned.

"This is a vow that I will always love you...and no matter what happens, that I am always by your side. I've sealed some of my grace in that stone, so you will always have a little part of me with you when I can't be there. It will always lead us to one another no matter how dark things become. Anna...will you one day marry me?" he questioned and watched the tears spill down her face as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Well?"

"Yes! Yes! Oh God Yes!"

"Good he smiled putting the ring on her finger. He then turned her so they could just bask in the moment watching the sun begin it's lazy journey to the horizon. Anna settled her head against his shoulder. Balthazar just smiled lacing their fingers together, his fingers brushing against the ring that now adorned one of her fingers.

The stars were shinning brightly above them when Balthazar sighed bowing his head. Anna looked over at him confused, they had moved to sprawl themselves on the roof, ignoring Gabriel's constant calls fro them to come down. The roof was peaceful and they could just enjoy one another's company. Anna was resting her cheek on his chest as he rubbed circles into her back.

"What?" she questioned.

"The Winchesters are calling for me." He explained sitting up, "I swear..."

"It's okay, go do your job."

"I'll be back soon."

"I know." Anna grinned reaching over to give him a quick peck on the lips, "Give 'em hell for me."

"Guaranteed Darling." he smirked and then he was gone, leaving Anna alone on the roof. She rubbed her arms, without Balthazar it seemed kind of cold. She wondered faintly why they had stayed up there for so long. She began her climb down, swinging through an open window. She glanced down at the ring. Anna may not have known what the future would hold for them but she knew that they would face it together.


	13. Calamity

Chapter 13: Calamity

"Alright...so it looks like you're dealing with a poltergeist. That should lead you to a routine salt and burn. Eh? No possessed object that I can see, why? You've already salted and burned the corpse. Well, looks like it's back to teh drawing board. Just try to make sure that no one else is killed by this thing. I'll give ya a ring when I find something. Alright, love you too and be careful." With a long suffering sigh, Gabriel scrubbed his face with both his hands. Removing them he looked back at his computer and began working again. He was taking a sip from his hot chocolate when the phone next to him rang, he picked it up hearing the panicked voice of Dean Winchester over the line.

"Gabriel, we have a problem." He whispered in a low voice almost like he was terrified to speak to loud. Gabriel raised a brow as ice flooded into his chest. The Winchesters seemed to drop off the face of the earth the last few months. It had been almost a year since Gabriel and the girls had gotten a phone call from them. They of course had gotten updates from Bobby, keeping them in the loop. Hearing that slightly terrified ring to the older hunter's voice made Gabriel wonder what the brothers had gotten themselves into.

"What do you mean we have a problem?" He questioned, "What kind of problem are we looking at here Dean?"

"Uh...well...how about there might be a new god kind of problem." At this the former archangel sat up in his chair, he gripped the arm of his chair so hard his knuckles began to turn white.

"What did you do?" he hissed, the voice went quiet, "Dean!"

"I...it wasn't us...it's Cas, we don't know what else to do Gabe."

"Castiel? Okay get your ass here and tell me everything, understand?"

"Yes." Now Gabriel leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. This day could not get any worse. Taking a deep breath he calmed himself, all he could doat the moment was just wait for teh Winchesters to see what had happened.

An hour later he heard the rumbling of an engine and looked out the window to see the Impala roll into the driveway, the black paint glinted in teh sunlight as it pulled to a stop. Grabbing his cane, Gabriel made his way to the door as the two large hunters removed themselves from their car. They were nearly shaking under the smaller man's glare.

"Get in the house." He ordered and they quickly walked in. Gabriel closed teh door and led them into the living room. Teh two men sat on the couch, it seemed like they were clearly content with counting the grains on the wood floor. His glare softened and he sighed.

"So...do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Well...you know about the civil war happening up there right?"

"Between Castiel and Raphael. I may not have my Grace nymore, kiddo, but I still get Angel Radio." Gabriel teased.

"Well...since Sammy here threw Lucifer and Michael into the pit...they've been scrabbling for someone to lead them..." Dean explained and Gabriel nodded, turning to look at Sam as he sat down across from him.

"How are you feeling by the way?"

"What?" he looked up before realizing what Gabriel was talking about, "Right, right, I was soulless wasn't I? I'm doing a lot better...thanks...I hope I didn't do anything...you know...stupid to you guys."

"Nah, we haven't heard from you guys for moths. We wondered what happened but figured you guys were too busy dealing with your own shit. But it's real good to have ya back Sammy." Gabriel grinned clasping his shoulder, "Now, what about Cas? What has he gotten himself into now."

"He and Crowley are going to open up Purgatory."

"What?" Gabriel's face became pale as he ran a hand through his hair, "Oh, this is bad..."

"Yeah, Balthazar is helping us keep tabs on him..." Dean explained.

"That's dangerous..." he sighed pausing for a moment, "But necessary. Cas is going to be something stupid. The girls are working a case right now...but let me call them back."

"Hang on, we can wait." Dean said holding up his hand to try and stop the older man.

"This can't wait. Cas takes in those souls and he can explode, taking a good chunk of the world with him." He explained, "Plus, I can't let any of my brothers die...Cas won't hesitate to kill Raphael and if I can stop it, then I'm going to damn well try." He walked into the study, leaving the two hunters in the living room.

A few hours later the girls came rushing through the door. Seeing the two hunters in the kitchen, they paused moving to hug them both. "So, you two have royally screwed things up again?" Courtney questioned with a teasing tone. Dean rolled his eyes.

"We didn't do anything this time. It's all Cas, we're trying to stop him." He supplied and Anna slowly turned to stare at Courtney who's face began to pale.

"Cas?" She whispered feeling her heart break, "Why? What happened?"

"He's going to open the door to Purgatory and swallow up the souls. If we don't stop him, he'll either explode or we'll have seriously powerful being on our hands. One we can't afford to let live." Gabriel explained coming into the room, "Not all the souls are all happy-go lucky. Some of them are in Purgatory for a reason."

"So what are we going to do?" Dean questioned.

"Hopefully try and talk some sense into him...and the one that should do it is Court." Gabriel answered, said girl looked up shocked on her features.

"Me? I don't see how I'm going to make that much of a difference, Dean's much more qualified to do that."

"You'r gonna make a bigger difference than you think...I've been trying to ignore it for a while now...but you're Castiel's intended mate, even if you tow are too stubborn to see it." The former Archangel sighed lowering himself into a chair, Courtney appeared before him.

"What the hell is an intended mate?" She questioned.

"Angel's like most creatures look for others to spend the rest of their lives and reproduce, all that crap. When an angel senses or comes in contact wit their intended mate, well...they fall in love with them. The pull isn't that strong for humans...but Castiel has been trying to fight his instincts for a long time, probably since he met you. But his Grace has imprinted on you, letting other angels know to back off...Balthazar did the same thing to Anna." He explained, "So out of everyone here, you have a better chance to get trough that thick skull of his."

"But..."

"It's alright Court. He's not a bad person...he's just a little lost right now. I would never let him imprint on you if I didn't think you two would be a good match."

"So...I have to talk to him..." She questioned and Gabriel nodded, "Alright...let me go summon him. I'll be back with him hopefully in tow if it works."

Getting into her car she drove to a small lake and called for Castiel waiting patiently for him to come. With the flutter of wings she turned to see him standing there. "You called." He stated and she nodded.

"Yeah...uhm, Gabe told me that I was your intended mate." She saw the shoulders tense under the trench coat and the jaw clench.

"Courtney..."

"And I know what you're going to do." She sighed, "I just came to ask you to stop. Whatever this deal you made is...you can't go through on it. Whatever is in Purgatory...it's not good, some souls are dammed there Cas."

"But I can stop teh fighting. I can restore order." He argued, "Why won't you stand by me on this?"

"Stand by and what? Watch you blow up? That's not happening! What if you change, what if you lose control? Those spirits, not all of them are nice, some of them are down there for a reason!"

"I can control them."

"Cas, please...please don't do this..." she whispered turning to look out at the lake, she felt him step closer, "I just found you. I can't stand to lose you...I mean...I can only imagine what I'd be like, Anna hasn't heard from Balth for a few days and she's panicked. I'm just asking you not to put me through that." She turned to face him, and then something crossed his features.

"Courtney..." he reached into his pocket and brought out a necklace. Her heart froze when she realized who it belonged to.

"Why do you have this?"

"You wouldn't understand if I told you."

"Where is he Cas?"

"Dead." At the unemotional tone of his voice, the young woman staggered having to grab the tree for support.

"Wh-What happened?"

"He betrayed me."

"You...you killed him?" the silence was the only answer she needed as she lunged forward grabbing the lapels of his trench coat holding them tightly in her hands, "You bastard! He was your oldest friend, your brother, and you just killed him!" Castiel gripped her arms.

"I had t. It's not something you would understand."

"Not understand? Cas..." she reached forward and kissed him quickly stepping away, yanking the necklace from his fingers, "Don't come near me ever again. Next time we meet, I'm going to kill you."

"Why did you kiss me?"

"I wasn't kissing _you_." She spat, "I was kissing _my_ Cas good-bye. That stupid, innocent, brave, determined, sweet, sad angel that swept me off my feet and took my heart with him." And with tears streaming down her face, the hunter turned and walked back to the car leaving the angel stunned by teh lake


	14. Last Stand

Chapter 14: Last Stand

Slowly Courtney walked into the house, those in the living room rising to see who had walked through the door. Dean opened his mouth to ask her how it went when he noticed the tears on her face. She walked through the small group to Anna who stood beside Gabriel. Slowly she took the necklace from her pocket. She saw realization rip through her features as tears filled the younger's eyes. Courtney pressed it into her hand.

"I'm so sorry..." She whispered and Anna shook her head tears now flowing as she sobbed brokenly into Gabriel's shoulders. He held on to the crying young woman rubbing circles on her back, willing her to calm. He looked up at Courtney noticing the shattered expression on her face. He reached out and pulled her close to him, the cane clattering uselessly to the ground. Both his girls were broken...a long tear traveled down his face as he gripped them tighter.

A half hour later Gabriel closed teh door to Anna's room, where she had finally fallen asleep. Courtney was sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket. He sat sown next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder bringing her back into his comforting embrace.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Dean questioned and Gabriel sighed leaning back in the chair, "I mean, Cas isn't going to stop, and our only lead on what the hell is going on is dead."

"Simple, we lick our wounds and fight back." At the determined tone in Gabriel's voice Courtney looked up, "We're hunters and last time I checked if we go down, we go down swinging. If Cas wants to push, then dammit, we'll push back! I may go down, but I'll tell you this much, I'm bringing as many evil son of bitches as I can with me." There was a spark to the honey gold eyes and the Winchesters couldn't help but smile at the words. They stood leaving to get ready for the fight that was sure to come. Gabriel bowed his head turning to look down at Courtney.

"You know...when...when the war first broke out, before I was trapped in that fire...before Michael changed...I would relay messages back and forth between him and Lucifer trying to get a peaceful ending...and...and I would have to fight and kill my own brothers and sisters...there would be times I just couldn't handle it. Michael would sit with me...and wrap his arm around my shoulders," He was desperately fighting for composure, "and he would say that he was sorry...and I had to be strong...and that when this was over we could be a family again. We were fighting a war for good, protecting humanity...and I held on to those words...still hold on to them, so I'm going to keep fighting, and I'm going to tell you exactly what he told me...that you have to be strong, no matter what we may face, and though we walk through this time of bloodshed and pain, we will not falter. We will walk side by side, hand in hand. We will brandish our swords and shields...and rise up against anything that will harm those we protect. We made a vow to them...and to ourselves...we let no harm come to them, even if we must fight one another to keep man safe. Be strong if not for yourself, then for them...for your family." Courtney looked up at the words and felt Gabriel's thumb wipe away her tears.

"But..."

"And Courtney, you are the strongest person I know. You and Anna are my inspiration...so if anyone can bounce back from this it's you two." He explained with a small grin, "I don't know what I would have done without you guys in my life." A small smile curled the corner of Courtney's lips as Gabriel pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Thank you..."

"Hey, you didn't give up on me, so I'm not giving up on you," He said, "Now let's go see how Annie's doing."

_Anna didn't know where she was, she did know for a fact that she was no longer in her bedroom. This place was strange, nothing but fog seemed to roll just under her knees. She instinctively reached for the gun or knife that she always had on her when she saw a figure move out in the distance. Was someone lost like her? Cupping her hands to her mouth she called out to them, watching whoever it was stop and suddenly come running to her. She didn't notice the ring on her finger shine brightly as the figure approached. His gait slowed from a jog to a walk and Anna felt her heart swell in her chest as she reached out only to be blocked with something that felt like glass. _

_ "Balthazar?" She asked and he nodded smiling a bit, reaching up with a hand to place it over hers. _

_ "It's so good to see you Anna."_

_ "I miss you...so much." She nearly sobbed and he shook his head smiling sadly. _

_ "I know, and I am so sorry about this...but...I don't regret anything. If I was given the option I would do it all over again. Nothing would change..."_

_ "Me too..." _

_ "I can't stay long, it was a stretch to try and reach you...I want you to know that I love you. I will never stop...and I just want you to remember that no matter what we fought about or pissed one another off, I love you. I want you to focus on the good times we shared together. Never the sad, I never want to be part of a sad memory...I want you to keep on fighting. Don't just lay down and give up, love. I never fell head over wings for a weakling. I fell in love with a strong warrior, a solider. So please get up Darling. Get up and fight. Give them hell for me." He grinned at the final part recalling what Anna had told him the last time they had spoken. Anna smiled weakly at him despite the tears streaming down her face. _

_ "I will."_

_ "Good. You're a strong woman...your stubbornness was one of the many traits I fell in love with." He smiled softly this time as he lowered his hand, "And this isn't "Good-bye" Darling. I will never leave you. I will always be there...maybe not in the physical sense, but my soul...my grace, will never be to far behind. Remember love, I always have your back." He smiled looking up as the word around them began shaking. Anna didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay here with Balthazar, "Well, looks like your needed Anna...go get them Darling." And with a final encouraging smile, the scene faded into darkness._

Anna felt her eyes open as a hand shook her shoulders. She looked up and saw Courtney's face hovering over her's a sad grin on her face. "Hey."

"Hi." she whispered sitting up, scrubbing a hand over her face before letting it rake through her hair, "So what are we going to do?" Courtney shrugged looking back at Gabriel with a small smile.

"Well, what's the plan boss-man?"

"The way I see it, we have to get to Cas before he swallows the soul and deliver the ass-kicking of the century." He explained leaning on his cane, "The boys have already called Bobby, so he should be here son and Sam and Dean are off gathering supplies. You all should be able to roll out in an hour or two. So we have to get ready now."

"Right..." Anna sighed getting off the bed and walking out of the room. She stopped though by a strong hand on her arm and turned to see Courtney looking at her intently.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah...Balth came and saw me...he...he let me know that he's always going to be around one way or another...and I can accept that. Now we have bigger things to worry about than just sitting here and making sure I'm coping. We need to stop Cas, so let's get our asses in gear. Okay?" the older hunter couldn't stop the smirk that came across her face at the spark that had returned to her cousin's eyes. Gabriel grinned, his girls were back. Maybe not 100% but they were getting there.

An hour later, everyone was ready to go. The girls were sitting on the hood of the jeep, watching the other hunter roll into the driveway. Anna was busy cleaning her gun, looking up as Dean walked over to them handing Courtney a map. The destination was marked with a black X. Her brow frowned slightly when she saw it was in the middle of nowhere. "You know where to go?"

"Pretty much," He assured, glancing at Courtney, "just try to keep up."

"Right." She snorted, hoping off the jeep to walk to the driver's side, she looked at her cousin, "Well, you coming Annie?"

"Yeah, yeah, give me a second to get down. I'm not as young as I used to be." She teased as she went to the passenger side door. She got in and Courtney watched the Impala pull out of the driveway followed by Bobby. The girls glanced at Gabriel who watched from teh porch, leaning on his cane. He was ready to go and fight, however, because of his leg, he knew he would be an easy target. Maybe it was a good idea that they left him at home.

The girls didn't see the man walk around the house to the car Bobby had bought him months ago. An old fixer upper that he spent many days and nights on. It was a dark blue 1967 mustang. It took him a while to switch the gas and breaks around to accommodate him but he managed to get it working. With a small grin he opened the back to make sure his weapons were there and ready for the trouble he knew was coming. Something bright caught his attention, turning he saw his angel blade resting delicately against its holster on the roof of the fake trunk. He managed to hide it away before Meg caught him. Taking its pommel in his hand, his heart ached when it didn't hum in recognition of his Grace. With a sad smile he tucked it into his belt before making his way back to the house.

It was an old abandoned hospital from the looks of it, Anna and Courtney determined as they got out of the car, grabbing their guns and knives. Along with some holy oil bombs, they made before their departure. They saw Dean, Sam, and Bobby waiting for them. When they walked over to them they paused at the door before nodding slowly to one another. Pushing the rusted door open slowly, Dean walked in first gun raised, eyes flickering to every corner that might be hiding something. Every shadow could camouflage danger. Sam followed, then Bobby, Courtney and Anna brought up the rear.

They made their way down stairs hearing people talking quietly. Courtney glanced at Dean who nodded readying his gun as she kicked open the door. Castiel turned and angry Crowley covered in blood standing in front of the distraction the King of Hell quickly vanished with a snap of his fingers. Castiel sighed staring at the place where his enemy had been.

"Cas..." Dean began but Castiel cut him off.

"You're too late Dean." He said looking at his hand with some newfound fascination, "I have already taken in the souls of Purgatory." It was then the hunters saw the blood splattered around the room.

"What have you done..." Courtney questioned quietly, looking at Castiel, her eyes searching his only to find no trace of the angel she had once knew in those blue depths.

"I killed Raphael."

"Then spit out the souls Cas." Dead ordered, "The fighting will stop now."

"No Dean, it will never stop." Castiel explained, "Humans and Angels have been given too much freedom. They have filled the world with chaos. You must be put back in your proper places. I am going to restore order to the world."

"You...God gave us freewill why would you take that away?" Anna questioned angrily, "What would the real God say right now?"

"God is dead." the angel turned god snapped walking around the small group, much like a big cat circling his prey, "I am God now. Bow down and worship me...or die." Bobby began to slowly get down on his knees, knowing that the fight couldn't be one now. Sam quickly followed his lead, the two hunters laying down their weapons. Courtney took her pistol and fired all her rounds into Castiel's chest. They watched as blood blossomed around the shirt before the wounds healed. All the blood drained from her face as she looked at Dean and Anna, the empty gun clattering to the ground.

"Bullets soaked in holy oil...clever, but I'm afraid it won't work on me." he sighed, "Now, kneel." He flicked his wrist and the three hunters were on their knees.

"Cas..." Courtney growled and he shrugged.

"You should be grateful...I could have killed you...but you always were my favorite pets, so I'll let your disobedience go for this time, however, test me again and you won't be so lucky." and with a bright flash of light Castiel was gone. Slowly they all rose from their knees. Annie gripped her head as she turned to look at the hunters that were all standing there with a blank expression on their faces.

"What the hell just happened?" she exclaimed looking to each of them for answers no one would give.

Miles away Gabriel was finishing up his beer he saw the flash of light come form behind him. He sighed taking another swig, reaching slowly for the angel blade tucked into his belt. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"Big brother...would you like to have your grace back?" at this Gabriel let out a humorless laugh turning to look at the angel turned god.

"You know I do Cas, but not like this." He explained, "I want my Grace returned by my own father, not some angel who decided that they needed to become a god! I've seen gods and what they become. You don't want this...believe me Cas. Take it from someone who was a god." Castiel shook his head eyes darkening.

"You're running away again." He declared and Gabriel shook his head.

"No, I'm not. I'm standing up for what I think is right and you're in the wrong on this one kiddo."

"You always were the coward Gabriel, you never could stand up to your family." he saw the glint of a silver blade and smirked, "You won't kill me."

"Wanna bet?" and with that Gabriel lunged forward into a fight he had a feeling he would lose.


	15. One Way Out

Chapter 15: One Way Out

The small group of hunters raced back to the safe house to tell Gabriel that they had failed and needed to come up with a new plan. As Courtney and Anna got out of the jeep they noticed that Gabriel was not on the porch quizzing them on what happened. In fact as they stepped into the house it was too quiet.

"Gabe?" Anna called reaching for the pistol tucked inside of her jacket. She pointed for Dean and Sam to go upstairs, Courtney to go to the study, and Bobby to go to the living room. She made her way to the kitchen. Slowly pushing open the door she saw a hand lying outstretched from behind the counter. She dropped the gun and ran forward to see Gabriel lying motionless in a pool of blood. His angel blade lying only a few inches away from his hand. Anna's shaking hand reached up to gently touch his face noticing different spots were swelling. She then reached out to check for a pulse.

"Come on Gabe, don't do this to us...please...please...please..." she murmured under her breath, relief flooding her as he took in a long wheezing breath, "Guys! Someone call an ambulance!"

Courtney raced into the room horror evident on her face as she knelt down beside Anna, her face pale as she stared at Gabriel's broken form.

"What happened to him?" Dean questioned as he walked into the kitchen. Courtney shook her head looking at Anna who seemed just as clueless.

"C-Cas..." A week voice answered and they all looked at Gabriel, one thin slit of gold peeking through.

"Gabe, thank God..." Anna whispered, relief clearly evident on her face.

"An ambulance is on the way, keep him awake and talkin'." Bobby ordered as he tucked his cell phone back into the pocket of his jeans. Dean got down, not caring if blood stained his jeans.

"Who was the one that attacked you again?"

"Cas...told...told 'im no..." Gabriel answered his eyes fluttering shut, his head lolling to the side.

"He's out...shit...Gabe, Gabe come on..." Courtney nearly begged, tapping the cheek that wasn't covered in blood.

"Don't touch him...we can't move him in case Cas hurt his neck or something." Bobby explained and Anna nodded in a distracted manner.

A few hours later, the hospital room was quiet. The only sound being made was by the machines in the room along with the hissing of the ventilators as they helped Gabriel breathe. Dean watched the chest still before airs pushed its way into it making it rise before going flat again. He closed his eyes, it was the most heartbreaking thing he had seen in a long time. He never saw Sam leave the room to get coffee for the group.

"This was never supposed to happen...we should have put him in a panic room or something..." Anna whispered, "I've already lost Balthazar...I can't lose Gabe too." Courtney closed her eyes as guilt flooded into her chest. If only she had killed Castiel instead of kiss him. If only she wasn't so angry and hurt...Gabriel wouldn't be in the hospital...he would have never had been tortured again.

"This is all my fault." She confessed, "I had a chance to kill Cas and...and I didn't take it." In a instant she felt herself being pulled into a fierce hug, looking up she saw it was Dean holding her.

"This," He began, "is no one but Cas' fault. He's been going behind our backs and lying to us. He should have come to us. Who cares if he was desperate. That doesn't give him a reason to lie. He did everything we could. He was our friend and we trusted him, we didn't want to hurt him. He's not the same person we knew, we have to stop him before he hurts someone else...Gabriel would want us to keep on fighting." He pulled away and wiped something off her face. It took her a moment to realize that she was crying.

"That's right." Bobby sighed from his silent vigil on the sofa, "We'll figure this out. Don't be placing guilt where it doesn't belong, ya idjit." Glancing over at Anna, Courtney saw her cousin give her a small, sad smile before turning her gaze back to Gabriel. All they could do now was wait and listen.

Soon after Gabriel's room became almost like Bobby's library. Tables were set up around the room, blankets and cots as well. There were even some weapons stashed under beds mounds of clothes, just in case the angel turned god wanted to come back and finish the job. Anna was busy reading through some books, while Courtney was translating when Bobby came back with some food, Sam was busy sitting with Gabriel and Dean rose from the cot he was napping on to help him with the bags.

"Any changes?" He questioned and Sam slowly shook his head.

"The swellings gone down some." he sighed leaning back in the chair, "Nurses came in to feed him a few minutes ago..." with a nod Bobby turned to the girls who were moving through the mountain of books.

"We find anything yet?"

"Nothing. Just a bunch of dead ends and what ifs." Courtney sighed as she threw the final book down.

"I think we just have to wait for him to implode or something." Anna admitted.

"Yeah well...a lot of people are going to get hurt if we don't do something." Dean stated as he scrubbed his face with a hand, "And I feel so goddamn helpless! How do you kill God?"

"I told other hunters to stay away from him. No sense in letting them get their asses killed." Bobby sighed, "Now hand me that book and let's get back to business."

Days passed and still nothing could be found. Gabriel was still in his coma and seemed to show no signs of waking up. The doctors said that the injuries to his head were severe and that until he woke up...if he woke up...they wouldn't be able to see the extent of the damage. This just filled everyone in the room's stomach with ice. Bobby told the girls to grab what possessions they had from the safe house and said that they would stay with him for a while. The girls kindly rejected the offer and asked if the boys could just go and pick up some clothing, they weren't going to leave Gabriel here by himself. What if he woke up alone? He never liked being alone. That much the girls knew and prided themselves in making sure he knew they were never far from his side.

It was around teh afternoon of the third week and again they were knee deep in research. Dean was on the computer when he called them over, his face pale. When they all gathered around Dean played the video. It was of Castiel walking into a upcoming politician's campaign office and laughing before the camera short circuited. Then when it came on again everyone was dead. Courtney raised her hands to cover her mouth and Anna looked as though she wanted to throw up. They just saw the tail of Castiel's trench coat leaving out of the door.

"Oh my God..." Courtney choked out a second later, "He killed innocent people..."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Sam questioned, "Come on, there has to be something, even if means stunning him for a bit." Everyone went quiet as they heard something fall against the doorframe. Courtney looked up first her hand reaching inside of her coat, grabbing the gun that was resting inside. Dean stood eyes narrowed at him.

"What do you want Cas?"

"I need help." Castiel croaked, the hunters took in the angel's appearance, parts of his skin were beginning to melt away, or forming into a rash of some sort. How he got past the hospital staff in that condition they would never know.

"And why on _God's_ green earth should we help you? You've already put one of us in a coma..." Dean hissed as Castiel's eyes shifted to the figure lying in the bed a few feet away.

"I...I am so sorry...and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness or help, but please for the friendship we once shared, help me." And at that moment the god collapsed, Dean caught him and looked at the others in the room, his once cool stern expression melting into a silent plea to the others in the room. Courtney looked at Anna who nodded.

"What do we have to do Cas?" Courtney questioned and watched as surprised blue eyes glanced up at the group.

"You'll...you'll help me?"

"Of course dip-shit. Now what do we have to do?"

"Take me back to where this started...I'm going to send the souls back..."

"Alright...it's not far from here. So let's get a move on. Bobby..." Dean said looking back at the old hunter.

"I'll stay here with Gabriel." he offered with a small grin, "You idjits be careful."

"Will do Bobby." Sam said grabbing his bag the bag full of supplies as Dean helped Cas through the halls. Anna and Courtney followed. Somehow they managed to make it out of the hospital unnoticed with a bleeding, melting man. The car ride was silent, Dean opened his mouth to say something when Sam shot him a look and shook his head.

"Cas...look at me for a minute." Courtney whispered and the angel turned god did so and Courtney searched his eyes for a moment and saw what she was looking for. Her angel was there, somewhere in that twisted vessel she saw her Castiel.

"I am so sorry." He began and she shook her head.

"Not now Cas." She whispered, "Maybe later but not now."

The car pulled to a stop outside the door of the hospital and Dean helped Castiel out of the car and into the building. Sam, Courtney, and Anna following after. They made their way to the old surgery room and went about to do the ritual listening to Castiel's instructions. Sam and Anna stopped looking at one another. They both thought the same thing, what if this was just a trap?

Courtney was sitting beside Castiel trying to keep him comfortable as Dean and the others got everything together. Castiel was busy just staring at the girl he gave up for power. She was still so beautiful, even after the hardships. He was pulled out of his thoughts by someone reaching down and pulling him to his feet.

"Alright Cas, show time." It was Dean.

"R-right..." He staggered to his spot and heard Courtney begin to read the incantations. The other three stood back watching wearily. Suddenly Castiel collapsed, Dean raced forward and helped him back to his feet. The wall began to break apart revealing a black abyss. The wind around them began to pick up and Castiel looked over his shoulder to the four people he betrayed.

"I'm sorry." He apologized and then the abyss pulled the souls from his vessel in a spectacular bright light causing those in the room to shield their eyes. A few moments later it was gone and Castiel's lifeless form slumped to the ground. Courtney was the first to his side, a shaking hand reaching up to cup the cheek that wasn't broken open. "Cas?" she called using her other hand to shake his shoulder.

"Cas you child..." She heard Dean mutter behind her as he turned running a hand through his hair. Anna knelt by Castiel's other side and placed two fingers against the pulse point on his neck and slowly shook her head.

"He's gone." She whispered and Courtney bowed her head. She had just gotten her angel back and now he was gone. The tears came hard and fast as she buried her face into his chest gripped his trench coat tightly in her hands. Sam's phone rang and quickly the tall hunter picked it up.

"Bobby..." He whispered, "Gabriel's awake...that...that's great...we..." he had to swallow hard forcing the lump that had built in his throat down, "We lost Cas."

Sam went silent for a minute as if listening what Bobby had t say before nodding his head absently, then realizing that the older man couldn't see him.

"Yeah...yeah...thanks Bobby, we'll be back in a minute. We have to bury him...okay..." He hung up the phone and saw Dean picking up Castiel, holding him against his chest as gently as possible.

Walking out of the hospital they found a piece of land that looked as though it wouldn't be disturbed and got to work. Wrapping Castiel in a blanket they lowered him into the hole that Sam had dug while the girls tried to clean Castiel up as much as possible. Dean stared down at the covered bundled mass and looked over at the others.

"S-should we burn him?"

"I don't think so...his soul's in purgatory and Jimmy's gone...there really shouldn't be anything keeping him here." Sam sighed as he began filling the hole with dirt. Anna had her arm wrapped around her cousin knowing exactly what she was going through. When she lost Balthazar it was like the world had stopped spinning.

When the final shovel full of dirt was piled onto the grave site, Dean made a cross out of some thick sticks he found and then reached into his pocket and took out a rosary and draped it over the cross. Courtney smiled slightly at him through the tears when he came back and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Soon they were back at the hospital, they drove in absolute silence, no one actually grasping what had just happened. When they walked into the room, they saw Gabriel resting in the bed, speaking quietly to Bobby. The older hunter looked at the door and smiled at them, gesturing for Gabriel to turn and look. With a weak roll of the head, he smiled at the two girls in the doorway.

"Hey there." He greeted and without another word they rushed to him, he groaned when they hugged him a little too hard, "Girls...girls, please...you know...we've got to stop meeting like this." They quietly laughed and Courtney just leaned back, unable to stop the smile on her face, reaching over to move a stray strand of hair from his face.

"It's good to see you too...without any brain damage."

"Yeah? Heh, I thought you two liked taking care of me." Courtney just rolled her eyes and Gabriel leaned back against the pillows of the bed, "Bobby filled me in on everything...so Castiel is gone?"

"Yeah and the souls are back in purgatory." He looked at Courtney when she answered and saw the sadness lingering in the depths of her eyes. He reached over and gripped her hand tightly in his.

"You going to be okay?"

"I don't know..." She answered sadly and she received a reassuring squeeze.

"That's fine, we're going to be here with you through it all." Gabriel smiled faintly gesturing to the group standing behind her. She turned and smiled faintly. She knew her family would help her through every hardship.


	16. Meant to Be

Chapter 16: Meant to Be

It was cold. That was the first thing Castiel was aware of, when he found himself springing consciousness. He saw a figure standing by a pool, his arms The man had his back turned to him. He turned and Castiel found he didn't recognize the man, but his presence felt familiar. He gave Castiel, a friendly smile gesturing for him to walk over.

"it's good to see you awake Castiel." he said and the angel's eyes narrowed as he stood and walked over to the man.

"Who are you?"

"I am who am." he answered casually, "You can also call me Father."

"God?" Castiel questioned choking slightly on the name and the man nodded.

"Yes, and as it would be revealed I am alive and well." He said with a brow raised, "Now we have a very important matter to discuss."

"What?"

"Look down at the pool." Slowly Castiel did so and saw his friends, he noticed that even though Courtney was smiling and laughing as they helped Gabriel into the house, however, there was a sad glint in her eyes. An ache filled his heart, how he desperately wished to be there. God seemed to notice and he tapped his chin glancing at Castiel from the corner of his eye.

"Now, I'm not too happy with you Castiel." He explained, "But someone has come to speak on your account. I believe you know him quiet well...you did after all stab him in the back."

"B-Balthazar..."

"He is a very loyal friend and brother. You should honor him."

"A-and what do you want me to do...what is my punishment?"

"Well, you have a few options. You can stay and take your punishment, your perdition, or you can become mortal and live your life with this woman."

"And what of Balthazar? What of his fate?"

"You needn't worry about him, child. He is on his way." God chuckled, "So, what is your decision?" Castiel stared at the pool looking at Courtney, he couldn't leave her like this. He looked back at God.

"I...I would like to go back to her Father. if it is possible."

"Of course. But you have to love this woman with everything in your essence."

"I will."

"Good. You're intentions were good Castiel, your heart was in the right place but...doing what you did wasn't the answer."

"I know." Castiel sighed bowing his head, he felt a hand settle on his shoulder and turned to see God smile at him.

"It's alright, we learn from our mistakes not dwell on them. You have a chance to fix it, so take it."

"Thank you...Father..." Castiel said giving him a brief smile before he felt himself being pushed into the pool. With a gasping breath his eyes flew open. He was rapped in something. If only he could move his arms. He began ripping the fabric around him, only to soon find dirt fill the space around him. Coughing, he dug through the dirt. He couldn't breathe, his digging became more frantic and desperate. He would not give in. Not now, not after this chance he was finally given. Finally be broke through the dirt and breathed the fresh air in deeply. Hunching over he tired to steady his breathing, noting the slight panting and gasping he had taken on. Then with another heave he pulled himself free from the grave. He laid there motionless, exhausted. After taking a moment to regain his strength he got to his feet and began to make his way back to the safe house.

Anna was sitting on the back porch, she was playing with the rings placed on the necklace that belonged to Balthazar. She missed him, God how she missed him. His cocky smile as he greeted her with a 'hello darling'. She missed the way they would just sit on the roof wrapped in one another's arms. Hell, she even missed when the way he would whisk her off tot some European city and drag her everywhere.

The sound of the backdoor closing made her bow her head and sigh. She didn't want to talk. She just wanted to think and remember. Without turning to look around to see who it was she just stated, "Go away, I'm not in the mood."

"Well, that's a shame Darling..." came the heavy accented voice, making her heart stop and swell, "I even brought whipped creme." Slowly she turned around and saw Balthazar standing there with a small smile on his face. Without another word she sprung to her feet and slammed herself into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh Darling, I missed you..." He whispered.

"I missed you too! God...if you ever do something like that again, I'll..." she nearly sobbed. He pulled back and placed a hand on her face, eyes raking over her features.

"I love you." He told her, emotion vibrating in the three words. She smiled burying her face once more into his chest.

"I love you too."

In the kitchen Courtney smiled slightly at the reunion, trying to fight the aching jealousy that burned in her chest. She tried to tell herself that she shouldn't have felt something for Castiel. Not after everything he put her through. Balthazar and Anna, they had been together much longer than she and Castiel. Their souls hand become intertwined and the bond continued to only grow stronger. She and Castiel had only started with tentative touches, meeting then pulling away. Almost like they were getting used to being around one another. Courtney knew she should feel this jealousy but she was after all, only human.

A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. "Someone get that! I'm in the middle of telling Dean how to kill something!" Gabriel's voice called from the study. With a roll of her eyes Courtney walked over to the door and pulled it open. Standing before her was very haggard looking Castiel. He was looking down at the porch, moving his gaze to meet hers when the door opened.

"Courtney." In that one moment every emotion came running back to her. She was so happy to see him...but then so angry and hurt. Why was he here? How did he get here? How was he alive? So many questions burst through her head.

"C-Cas..." She took her fist and swung it at him, catching him right on his stubble covered jaw. He went stumbling back before finding himself enveloped in a hug. "You stupid, brainless, incompetent, irresponsible dick! Don't you ever worry me like that again!"

"I-I'm sorry..." came the whisper as his hands floated helplessly inches from her back.

"Don't you ever do that again!"

"I-I-"

"Because I kind of want to date you!" Courtney said, the statement muffled by his shoulder.

"I...I would like that very much." Castiel smiled, finally placing his hands on her back and bringing her closer to him. This was the beginning of his salvation.

Leaning against the door, Gabriel just smiled. Life as he knew it had gone back to normal, yet changed drastically. The little girls he had raised were no longer so little and he was trying to figure out where all the years had gone. When he last looked at the two of them, they were six and begged him not to leave them at school. He blinked and all of a sudden they were grown women with lives ahead of them. He only hoped he would be along for the ride.

**Hello everyone, I just wanted to thank you for your wonderful support throughout this fic! To all those that reviewed and viewed thank you, thank you, thank you! I am going to be working on a sequel for this and I can't wait to hear from you all!**

**Skully**


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